


Bowing Down Before Blodreina

by SinkShowerAndStuff



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alpha Octavia, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Dubious Consent, F/F, Forced Marriage, Girl Penis, Happy Ending, Madi is Clarke and Lexa's daughter, Mating, Omega Clarke, Season 5 - canon divergent, Smut, This starts pretty dark and angsty and gets all fluffy in the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-06-21 19:09:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 64,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15564513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinkShowerAndStuff/pseuds/SinkShowerAndStuff
Summary: "You're going to bow down before me. You and Madi. People will see the great Wanheda and her nightblood child kneel before Blodreina. But that's not going to be enough. We're going to mate. I know you're an omega, even though you hide your scent well. You will be my omega, you will submit to me. And then our people will understand that I'm the only true leader, the alpha above all others. Of course I'm going to accept Madi as my child too then, therefore she will be my rightful successor. Even the followers of the flame will fall in line again, with the prospect of their Heda as the heir to the throne."~OR the season 5 canon divergent fic where Octavia hasn't lost her mind, Clarke isn't a traitorous fool, Abby is not an addict, Madi is Clarke and Lexa's biological child, and earth is not destroyed by toxic masculinity. All with an A/B/O twist.- complete -





	1. The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> When I started this, it was really just an excuse to write some G!P smut. But then more and more ideas for an alternative season 5 came to mind. Writing for this fic became kind of therapeutic and a way of dealing with this crazy shit show. You'll see what I mean in later chapters as the story progresses.
> 
>  
> 
> So this takes place somewhere in the middle of season 5. Besides the ABO thing, there are some other changes to canon. Most importantly, Madi is Clarke and Lexa's biological child and therefore only 5 years old.
> 
>  
> 
> Please mind the consent issues that come along with Alpha/Omega dynamics and furthermore Clarke's special predicament in this story.

How has it come so far, Clarke wonders briefly.

But then she remembers her daughter, the daughter of Lexa kom Trikru, the last true commander, and as of now also the new bearer of the Flame, and knows she has no choice.

She would do anything for Madi, so when Octavia summoned her to her private chambers after learning about the girl's ascension, Clarke didn't hesitate.

Now she is standing here in O's room, without her weapons - the guards disarmed her before she was allowed to enter - but not defenseless. She has picked up some fighting techniques over the years. Though she doubts fighting Octavia would be the solution to their dilemma.

Octavia sits before her, not on a throne, just a normal chair besides the small table that's tucked against the wall. The room is sparsely furnished, the only other items are a dresser and of course the large bed in the middle of the room.

It doesn't matter though where Octavia sits, she still has an aura of royalty surrounding her, her Blodreina persona firm in place. Clarke also registers the younger woman's alpha scent that seems to occupy every molecule of air in the room. It stirs her omega, and she's mildly alarmed about that.

Since Lexa she hasn't had a reaction like that to anyone. And Lexa has been her true mate, the alpha to her omega, the one and only - or so she thought.

She can't deny that Octavia is a strong alpha though, maybe not as strong as Lexa who was the alpha of all alphas, but from what she could gather during her short time living amongst wonkru, Octavia is the strongest alpha between her people.  
Maybe that's part of why they follow her without question.

Octavia's low, almost menacing sounding voice startles her out of her musings.

"Clarke, I've thought about what to do about Madi's ascension. It's too late to keep it a secret. Word has already spread. A part of my people still believes firmly in the ways of the old commanders, they will follow Madi as the new Heda, abandoning Wonkru. We can't let that happen. We have enough to deal with, even without a divide amongst our people. Do you agree?"

"Yes. I've told you I don't want Madi to be Heda either, she's only a child. She can't lead these people. Your brother and Gaia did this to her against my will. They forced the Flame on her." Clarke feels her anger rising again. She shouldn't have given Bellamy just a slap in the face, she should have given him a taste of her blade instead.

"I know, and they will be punished for it. The problem still stands though that Madi has the flame now which threatens my authority. So, aside from killing you and your daughter..."

Clarke hardly keeps herself from flinching about hearing Octavia talking about their deaths so blatantly.

"I see only one solution."

Clarke remains stoic, her curiousness peaks up though, and she can feel a strong wave of alpha pheromones radiating off of Octavia. The involuntary effect on her libido undeniable as her panties are getting wet.

"You're going to bow down before me. You and Madi. People will see the great Wanheda and her nightblood child kneel before Blodreina. But that's not going to be enough. We're going to mate. I know you're an omega, even though you hide your scent well. You will be my omega, you will submit to me. And then our people will understand that I'm the only true leader, the alpha above all others. Of course I'm going to accept Madi as my child too then, therefore she will be my rightful successor. Even the followers of the Flame will fall in line again, with the prospect of their Heda as the heir to the throne."

 

"Sorry, what?" Clarke's mind is reeling. "You want us to mate?"

Octavia stands up at that and steps closer, her pheromones flaring. 

"Think about it, Clarke. I'm sure you'll see the benefit for all of us in my plan."

Octavia scrunches up her nose, before she smirks.

She must have detected Clarke's scent which is now very prominent, much to the blonde's embarrassment. 

"You have until tonight to decide. My people are in an uproar. I don't have much time to get the situation under control. If you're willing to submit to me and receive my mating bite, then come back to my quarters in two hours."

Octavia's words are spoken with a finality that leaves no room for argument, so Clarke just nods and leaves. She has a lot to think about and a decision to make.

 

 

 

~

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what Clarke will decide. ;)  
> Smut coming up.


	2. First Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your comments and kudos, they are highly appreciated! 
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy the second chapter too. Please don't expect daily updates though, they are going to be quite irregular.

Clarke feels sick.

She's restlessly pacing up and down in her tent. In the corner Madi is peacefully asleep on their cot.

When Clarke got back from her conversation with Octavia, she prepared a sparse - there is not much food left - dinner for them, and they ate. Well, Madi did, Clarke couldn't get anything down. The thought of becoming someone else's mate lying heavily on her heart and apparently also her stomach.

Lexa is her mate, death won't change that.

So how can she go and mate with someone else? It feels like a betrayal, not only of Lexa, but also of her own soul.

Logically she knows that Octavia's suggestion is a good one, probably the best under these circumstances. It'll solve the leadership problem once and for all, reunite Wonkru again and get them ready to conquer the last remaining survivable place on earth.

The alternative looks bleak. Octavia would be forced to put a kill order on them. She and Madi would have to flee in order to avoid execution.

They could make it on their own, they had made it for over 5 years. But their home is now occupied by a bunch of criminals, probably some rapists and murderers among them. She would only put her daughter and herself in danger if she tried to make some kind of deal with them.

No, going away is not a viable option. Wonkru are her people too, Lexa's people. The survivors of the thirteen clans. Her mate - late mate - would want her to be with their people again. She would want Madi to grow up amongst other children, to learn the traditions and craftsmanships of the different clans.

Protecting her daughter at all costs, that's been Clarke's only directive since she gave birth to this precious bundle of joy.

At Octavia's side she will be able to keep Madi safe. If they work together and Octavia listens to Clarke's advice regarding her knowledge of the territory, they would actually have a chance to win this war against Diyoza's prison crew - advanced weapons or not.

Once Echo comes through and disables the so-called eye in the sky, the former prisoners won't see them coming. They could fight a guerilla war, scattered attacks coming seemingly out of nowhere, in small groups, the element of surprise on their side. This way they could wear their enemy down, get hands on their weapons. Clarke knows many hiding spots, like caves and secret places deep in the forest, Wonkru could stay undetected in smaller groups here and there. They'd have food from the valley. And with time they could weaken their enemy enough for a final strike.

Clarke comes to a stop in the middle of the tent, she knows what she has to do. There's only one way for a brighter future for her child. 

She swallows down the bile in her throat and with it her feelings. She's always been good at compartmentalizing. She can do this.

It's almost time to meet Octavia again. When she steps out of her tent, Harper and Monty are already there. She has asked them earlier to stay with Madi for as long as she's gone. It's already dark outside and she knows she has to hurry now.

She sighs and forlornly touches Lexa's mating bite on the left side of her upper neck. She mentally sends a quick prayer up into the night sky, to the love of her life, asking her for forgiveness for what she's about to do.

 

On her way to Octavia's quarters she's suddenly hit with the idea that she should probably have prepared herself a little bit, like wash and put on some fresh underwear. She's about to have sex with another person for the first time in almost 6 years. This realization shouldn't come as a surprise, but she has been too busy to think about her and Madi's survival before to really acknowledge this. It makes her nervous all of a sudden. 

She scolds herself for feeling the need to make herself more presentable. She is forced to do this, why should she look nice and clean for her rapist. It's ridiculous. It makes her angry at herself.

On the other hand this is O, her friend, or at least they have been kind of friends in the past. Deep down Clarke knows that Octavia doesn't do this to her out of spite or cruelty. Octavia probably wants that as little as she does. This is not about the sex for Octavia either, it's not about getting some.

Clarke has heard many stories from Niylah about what happened in the bunker in all those dark years. She came to the same conclusion every time.

Octavia did what she did for only one purpose, to keep as many people alive as possible. She didn't enjoy the fights to the death in the arena, she didn't eat human flesh because she liked the taste. She didn't force people to be cannibals, because of sadistic tendencies. 

If anything Octavia is a masochist, Clarke thinks. "I bear it so that they don't have." The mantra so familiar to Clarke like it's carved into her skin.

Maybe they can find some common ground there. Understand each other on a deeper level. Maybe to be bonded with Octavia won't be so bad after all.

When she arrives at Octavia's door, the dread she felt for the last two hours is almost completely gone. Instead she is filled with a newfound determination. This is what she has to do, what they have to do, and Clarke wouldn't be Clarke if she didn't always do what's necessary.

The guards take her weapons again before leading her inside the room. It's darker than before, the electrical lights dimmed to a minimum, a lonely candle on the table creating a warmer light. It's almost cozy and Clarke wonders if Octavia did that to create a somewhat romantic atmosphere. She can't help but laugh at the thought. It's all quite surreal.

The laughter keeps stuck in her throat though when she sees Octavia coming out of a door in the back of the room she hasn't noticed before. It has to be the bathroom, Clarke reckons, because O's hair is still a little bit damp and her face is clean and void of any makeup. She looks beautiful that way, much more like the girl Clarke once knew than the almighty Blodreina she presents herself as now.

She wears light clothes too, just some linen pants and a tank top, and it makes Clarke wonder if Octavia knew all along what Clarke would decide.

Octavia looks more ready to bed her than to kill her, so yes, she probably knew. Again Clarke thinks that they are not so different after all.

"So, what have you decided, Clarke?" Her voice is cool and raspy and it already does things to Clarke.

"I accept your proposal. I'm going to be your mate." She's slightly surprised of the steadiness of her voice. But then she has already accepted her fate. There's no going back now.

"Ok, so..., then, we should go on with it." Octavia sounds nervous, and Clarke wonders how long it has been for her since the last time she had sex.

"Sure, how do you want me? On my back or hands and knees?" Clarke can't help the mocking tone. She is the one about to be taken against her will. She has no intention to make this any easier for Octavia. On the other hand she just wants to get it over with.

"Ahem, I..." Octavia blushes and looks away, before she straightens her posture and clearly tries to channel her Red Queen persona. "Get on the bed, on your hands and knees will suffice." 

So Clarke does as told, she strips down her clothes, the heavy leather jacket, the shirt she wears underneath, her dark leather pants, until she's standing in nothing but her underwear and her bindings.

Before she feels too self-conscious, she takes off the last two items too, leaving her butt-naked.

She takes a deep breath to calm her nerves, but is not prepared for the sudden onslaught of alpha pheromones. It stirs her own arousal, and when she looks at Octavia she can see the other woman's eyes roaming over body, pupils already blown wide. 

It does nothing to quell her own lust, and she feels herself getting wet, her omega pheromones now present in the room as well.

She forces herself to look away from Octavia's lean, muscled arms, the right one covered with an intricate pattern of tattoos. She curses herself when her gaze drifts downwards to the already forming tent in the alpha's pants that has a quite impressive size.

Fuck. 

Scrambling up to the bed more clumsily than she would have liked, Clarke doesn't quite know how to handle her conflicting emotions. Despite rather doing anything else, she feels an eager anticipation about what's to come. While getting in position and presenting herself makes her feel humiliated, she also can't help another surge of arousal that runs through her body and causes her to push out another strong wave of pheromones.

The bed dips behind her, Octavia's presence now all encompassing. Clarke's breath hitches at the first contact of O's hands on her. She runs them up, along the outside of her thighs, then her flanks, she lingers a little bit on the side of her breasts, maybe contemplating if she should take them more firmly and fully in her hands, but the touch stays light, only Octavia's fingertips ghosting over her skin, repeating her movements, up and down Clarke's back and sides.

Clarke is not quite sure what Octavia is getting at, but whatever she's doing it works. Clarke is already dripping wet, and she thinks she should be embarrassed about it, but it's been 6 years since somebody touched her like that, so she's willing to cut herself some slack.

After wandering tantalizingly slow down her spine, Octavia's right hand is suddenly between the blonde's legs, and Clarke jerks away from the pressure on her folds. Maybe she's not as ready for this as she thought.

Her arms tremble slightly and she has a hard time fighting her urge to just run away. Octavia must feel her distress, cause she leans forward, her body almost touching the omega's back, and releases some calming pheromones. The alpha's left hand holds Clarke tight on the brink of her shoulder, rubbing soothing circles over her skin with her thumb while her right hand presses against her folds once more. 

This time Clarke doesn't jerk away, she feels herself relax at Octavia's ministrations. And when Octavia starts to slide her fingers up and down her slit, she even moans in pleasure. 

She feels Octavia's now fully hard cock pocking at her butt cheeks which somehow distracts her so much that she at first doesn't even register when Octavia pushes the tip of her middle finger into her. But boy, when she does, her arousal skyrockets and her moans become louder every time Octavia pushes in a little bit more till she's knuckle-deep.

She's now soaking wet and O's finger slides in and out without much resistance. Soon the alpha is working her open with two fingers and Clarke tries desperately to muffle her moans by biting into her upper arm.

"Are you ready?" Octavia croaks into her ear, her voice rougher than usual, and Clarke doesn't know what she means until she feels the alpha's straining cock at her back again.

She's not able to say something, already panting and on the edge, so she just nods.

She turns her head when O leans back to get herself ready. The brunette shucks down her linen pants and underwear in one motion, giving Clarke a good look at her hard member. Her eight inch cock is thick, it's definitely thicker and bigger than Clarke imagined - not that she thought about O's dick a lot, it's just that the woman is otherwise rather small - and Clarke gulps heavily at the sight, feeling quite intimidated. 

The alpha jerks herself off a little to get completely hard, before she guides her cock to Clarke's entrance.

She slides it through her folds first until it's wet with the omega's juices. Clarke can't deny how pleasant it feels. She still braces herself when Octavia stops the tentative motion and starts to push in.

It hurts. Despite all the preparation Clarke feels her walls stretching painfully around Octavia's girth. Her breath comes out in short gasps and whines and when she can't take it anymore, she pleads Octavia to stop.

Thankfully the alpha complies immediately and stops pushing herself further in. She stays inside though, giving Clarke time to adjust. But she must sense that that's not enough. So she snakes her arm around Clarke's waist till she reaches her pussy and starts rubbing circles around her clit.

The added stimuli sends a jolt of arousal right to Clarke's core and she feels her inner walls relax around O's thick dick.

Octavia probably feels it too, cause after a short while she starts pushing in and out again, going deeper with every slow thrust. Clarke's channel now wet enough to accommodate the alpha's cock, she soon bottoms out, both groaning loudly because of the indescribably good feeling of O's cock pressing against the entrance of Clarke's womb.

It has been so long since Clarke has felt so thoroughly filled up. She shudders with pleasure.

After that Octavia starts rocking back and forth in a steady rhythm, her thrusts deep and powerful, her right hand never leaving Clarke's clit.

The force of Octavia's thrusts makes Clarke jolt forwards when O accelerates her movements, but her left hand grips Clarke's hip and holds her in place. It almost hurts again, but the pleasure is constantly rising and the omega's walls clench around O's cock. She knows she's close, the heat in her lower abdomen coiling.

She wants to let Octavia know, but all that comes out is a desperate whimper.

The brunette seems to understand her anyway, cause she presses her fingers firmly down on her clit, simultaneously pulling her closer and leaning forward till her mouth is next to Clarke's neck, near her right scent gland. 

If Clarke were able to think at that moment, she would be grateful that Octavia chose the right side and not the left where Lexa's bite sits.

But she doesn't think anymore, just feels, Octavia's breath against her ear, her chest pressed against her back, her fingers on her clit and her cock deep, so deep inside of her.

One last powerful thrust sends a flood of heat through Clarke's body as her orgasm rips through her.

At the same time Octavia bites down into her neck, piercing the skin above her scent gland, making her hers.

She feels Octavia's release as a massive, hot gush inside her channel and together with the alpha's mouth milking her gland, it's like Octavia becomes a part of her, their molecules forever entwined. 

 

When Octavia lets her go, softly pulling out, they both have a hard time catching their breaths. Clarke falls forward on the bed, her arms no longer capable of holding her upright. 

Octavia seems to have some energy left, cause she scrambles of the bed, picks up her underwear and pants and pulls them on.

Clarke registers that Octavia never took off her tank top. Seeing the brunette already fully dressed she becomes aware of her own naked state and sits up on the bed, before also standing up and gathering her clothes.

She can feel Octavia's eyes on her the whole time and she doesn't know what to make of it. When she's completely dressed she stands there awkwardly.

Finally Octavia interrupts the silence. "So, it's done." 

"Yes. I haven't bitten you though." 

"That doesn't matter for now. Tomorrow morning during the ceremony, people will see my mating bite on you and smell my scent on you and they will know that you're mine. You can give me your bite next time."

Next time. The words ring in Clarke's ears. There is going to be a next time and a next time and another time after that. They are mated now, Octavia has claimed her. Of course they are going to fuck again. Clarke realizes she hasn't thought that fully through.

They are bound to help each other through their heats and ruts. The thought of taking Octavia's knot makes her insides squirm. Her cock is already so thick, how is she supposed to take her knot? She can only hope their cycles have aligned till then, so that she's in heat when Octavia is in rut and able to knot her.

She shakes her worries off for now, she'll deal with it when the time comes.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow then." Clarke says as goodbye. There's no need to stay around any longer and frankly she can't wait to get out of Octavia's room that reeks of sex which only reminds her of what they've done.

She already is at the door when she hears Octavia softly calling after her. "I'll send by Niylah with a tea that prevents pregnancy."

At that Clarke turns around again, lifting her eye brow in a silent question.

"What? You think I want you pregnant with my child?" Octavia rolls her eyes.  "We're about to go to war, Clarke. I need all my fighters strong and unrestricted. And I know since you're not in heat it's unlikely that my seed has taken, but we can't take any risk, right?" 

"Right." 

When Clarke leaves the bunker this night, exhausted, with a soreness between her legs and a stinging wound on her neck, she's not sure it's all going to be worth it in the end. But she hopes so.

 

 

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although the sex is clearly non-con in this chapter, I plan to make them fall in love with each other over time. That is the smutty fanfic fantasy I'm indulging in here. I love Octavia and she's not going to be the designated bad guy in this story.
> 
> As much as I like this forced/arranged marriage type of situation in fanfiction, please note that I do not condone this in real life. Falling in love with one's rapist doesn't happen in real life. Stockholm syndrome is a mental illness, it's a misguided way for victims to try to cope with their situation while held captive or forced into a relationship. This story is not going to be about that.
> 
> I expect my readers to be able to distinguish between real life and fanfiction. So to those who like to share this smutty fantasy with me, welcome! ;)


	3. Bonding Ceremony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we dive into the next chapter, here are some things that happenend/ didn't happen in this story before chapter 1 and that are different from canon:
> 
> \- There are no worms/parasites in this story. Therefore Bellamy, Clarke and Indra didn't kill Cooper (in the most gruesome and cruel way). And Octavia doesn't plan to weaponize these parasites to give her an advantage in the war against the prison crew.
> 
> \- Indra hasn't betrayed Octavia by scheming behind her back.
> 
> \- Bellamy still poisened Octavia before he and Gaia put the flame in Madi, but it was a lower dose and she recovered quickly. Bellamy and Gaia have been imprisoned.
> 
> That's all for now, I think. Let me know if other stuff doesn't pan out or if you have further questions.

 

The next morning Wonkru is assembled in the arena. The atmosphere is tense.

Followers of the Flame are on one side, with Brell, one of Octavia's generals, as their leader, now that Gaia has been imprisoned. 

Loyalists to Blodreina are on the other side, with Miller as their front man. 

The divide isn't half and half, with a slight advantage for Blodreina, but the two opposing sides are even enough to result in massive casualties - if not the extinction of Wonkru - if a civil war were to break out.

Clarke stands just outside the main entrance to the arena, she has a good view of what's inside through the lattice gate.

Snuggled into her side is Madi. When Clarke woke her this morning and told her they were going to see Blodreina, the little girl was bouncing in anticipation. After all the stories Clarke told her, Octavia was her favorite. The girl under the floor that became a grounder warrior and in the end the champion of the human race, the savior of mankind.

Now Madi is a little bit intimidated. Clarke can't blame her. Octavia sits high above on her throne, red streaks adorning her face, a watchful eye on her people while at the same time appearing disinterested and aloof. It gives her a godlike aura, like she's above it all. Although Clarke knows she's not.

When the gates to the arena are opened, Octavia stares right at her, giving her an almost imperceptible nod that Clarke takes as her sign to enter the arena. 

With her daughter clutching her hand, which probably gives her more courage than Madi, Clarke steps forward, her eyes never leaving Octavia's. 

A murmur goes through the crowd, but everyone is silent again when the Red Queen stands up to address her people.

"People of Wonkru, we are gathered today to witness the initiation of Clarke kom Skaikru, great Wanheda, and Madi, daughter of Lexa kom Trikru, last commander of the thirteen clans. They will not only become part of Wonkru, but also part of me, as I have accepted Clarke as my mate. I have claimed her with my bite and today our bond shall be completed." 

While next to her Miller prepares the staff that holds the branding iron at the end, Clarke kneels, guiding Madi to do the same. 

"Wanheda speaks for herself as well as for her child." Octavia states and directed at Clarke she asks, "Are you ready to take the vow of Wonkru?" 

Clarke nods and recites the words that Niylah taught her last night.

"I give my body, mind and soul to the one and only clan. I become part of the kru saved by the champion, the clan of Blodreina. I'll be the seed and the soil, so that Wonkru can thrive." 

She holds up her right arm and tugs up her sleeve, so that her forearm is bare. When Miller presses down the iron on her inner forearm, Clarke doesn't even flinch at the pain. The hot stamp with the Wonkru sigil is only as big as a coin. She has endured worse.

"All of me for all of us." Miller solemnly declares while the brand is burnt into Clarke's skin.

"All of me for all of us." Clarke repeats when the hot iron is removed from her skin.

Now it's Madi's turn and Clarke fights against her instinct to shield her daughter from any pain. Instead she watches as the little girl bravely holds her arm out, imitating her mother. 

After reheating the branding iron, Miller steps in front of Madi. He hesitates shortly before he takes her hand to keep her in position and then he presses the burning metal into the child’s soft skin. The hissing sound and the smell of the burnt skin cause Clarke to almost throw up, the sight of her beloved child getting hurt too much to handle. But she forces herself not to look away, instead she seeks her daughter's gaze, giving her a reassuring nod. There are tears in Madi's eyes, but she doesn't make a sound. She tries to stay as strong as her mother, and Clarke can't help but be proud of her.

"All of me for all of us." Miller reiterates, this time Madi answers with the same words.

With the initiation complete now, the whole crowd repeats the words as well, like one common prayer.

"Welcome to Wonkru, Clarke and Madi." Octavia concludes, before she makes her way down into the arena to stand besides Clarke.

Getting up from her kneeling position, Clarke meets Octavia's gaze. Time for the bonding ceremony.

Clarke clears her mind from every thought. If she wants to get through this somehow, she can't let herself think of Lexa, of what she lost, of what they never had. She would break down. She would ruin the whole plan. She would sign her and her daughter's death sentence.

So she only concentrates on the here and now.

Indra is officiating the ceremony, so she positions herself in front of them. 

"We will now witness the bonding of Octavia and Clarke, of Blodreina and Wanheda, of Alpha and Omega."

Clarke and Octavia face each other.

Indra gives the ceremonial knife to Octavia who cuts the palm of her hand before doing the same to Clarke.

Red and black blood blend together when they press their hands against each other, Indra wrapping a white cord around their combined hands.

"Our blood is the same." Octavia recites the traditional vows.

"Our blood is one." Clarke answers.

"Now we bind ourselves in one blood." They say together.

"This bond is all-encompassing, unbreakable, everlasting. You're one now." Indra declares.

After they part their hands again, Octavia leans down to Madi. She presses her bloody hand on the child's forehead. 

"I take you Madi, Flame bearer, daughter of Wanheda and Heda, as my child. Therefore you become heir to the throne of Wonkru." 

A murmur goes through the crowd, people gasping and whispering.

When Octavia's hand leaves Madi's head, she has left a bloody mark of red and black.

"Now bow down to our beloved Blodreina and her family! Hail to the Red Queen! Our savior!" Indra demands and everybody complies, even the followers of the Flame. 

Octavia's plan has worked, they all fall in line.

 

~

 

After the ceremony when Clarke is in her tent alone while Niylah takes care of Madi's burn mark, she breaks down in the corner and cries. She cries for Lexa, her lost love, for having to bind herself to someone she doesn't love, for never being able to be with anyone else. She cries till there are no more tears left and her heart is empty.

She's sitting on her cot when Madi comes back, and puts on a brave face.

Madi seems happy, but she's always been an intuitive child, and even though Clarke tries to hide it, her daughter must somehow feel her sadness. As soon as she sees her mom, Madi goes to hug her.

"Aren't you happy mom that Octavia is now part of our family?"

"No, little one, I am happy, it's just that I thought about your mama." 

"Oh." Her daughter scrambles up into Clarke's lap, looking at her with big eyes.

Madi has never met her other mother. Lexa died before Clarke even knew she was pregnant. Not a day goes by that Clarke doesn't wish Lexa somehow would have known. The knowledge of bringing a child into this world giving her peace. At least Lexa knew Clarke loved her, loves her, will love her forever. 

"You know, mom, I think mama would have wanted you to be with someone again. She doesn't want you to be alone just because she's gone." Madi ponders, playing with Clarke's fingers.

"I'm never going to be alone, I have you, silly." Clarke manages to smile despite the tears forming in her eyes and tickles Madi to distract her further.

The young girl squirms in her lap, giggling.

"Stop it, mom!"

Clarke engulfs her in a bear hug. "I'm never going to let you go."

Her daughter snuggles into her, whispering, "I'm never going to leave you." 

They just sit there for a while, and with her daughter in her arms, Clarke finds some solace after the day's events.

Someone calling her from outside their tent disturbs their peaceful moment.

It's Niylah, and Clarke tells her to come in.

"Clarke, I'm here to help you and Madi pack."

"Pack?"

"You're going to live with Blodreina now. Madi even gets her own room. What do you say, little Heda, are you excited?"

"My own room?! I want to see it! Come on, mom!"

While Madi jumps around the tent happily, putting things in her backpack, Clarke is momentarily shocked at the revelation. She should have expected that, of course they would live together after being bonded. Still, she feels like she can't breathe.

 

~

 

They don't have much stuff, so the moving goes pretty fast.

Madi's room is next to Octavia's, and Clarke hopes the walls are as thick and sound proof as they seem to be. Her daughter doesn't need to hear what's going on between her mother and her new mate.

The room is almost as big as well and Madi instantly loves the soft bed. Clarke fights her anxiety at not being able to sleep next to her daughter like she has done since the day she was born. The guards in the hallway have doubled, watching over Blodreina as well as Heda. It gives Clarke only a small relief.

 

After Clarke brings her daughter to bed, kissing her goodnight, she joins Octavia in her - their room.

Octavia is sitting on the bed, dressed in a white tank top and grey boxer briefs, reading a worn book. "Iliad", the title says, and Clarke vaguely remembers something about the Trojan war.

The only light in the room is a candle on the nightstand. The flickering, warm light illuminates O's features while she is absorbed in the tales of her book. The image reminds Clarke so much of Lexa that she barely can handle the onslaught of emotions, grief, longing, hope.

When Octavia looks up from her book and stares at her with her piercing green eyes, it feels like she looks right into her soul. Maybe it's their developing mating bond or just a mutual understanding, Clarke doesn't know, but she feels like there's a connection between them that hasn't been there before.

"If you want to take a bath, there are towels and fresh clothes in the bathroom." Octavia interrupts their moment.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Clarke mumbles before making her way to the bathroom.

The warm bath feels heavenly, but Clarke can't help but notice the uncomfortable stinging between her legs when she cleans herself.

 

Leaving the bathroom a little while later in just a soft T-shirt and underwear, Clarke is met with Octavia's gaze again.

Her appearance must be enticing, because Octavia quickly puts her book away and a wave of strong alpha pheromones hits Clarke.

She resists the alpha's call a little longer, feeling like they need to talk first. Not like the first time, the night before, when they barely spoke.

"So, on which side do you want my bite? I mean which one is Lincoln's? I could..."

"I didn't share the mating bite with him. I - I haven't... with anyone." Octavia admits, blushing a little.

"Really? But you and Lincoln seemed so in lov..."

"Yeah," Octavia interrupts her, "but... he was a beta and as such he was not overly perceptive to pheromones. He also never liked the whole animalistic, primal side of sex and relationships, so he wasn't pushing for us to mate. I mean I wanted to, but we decided to wait till things got quieter - more peaceful... and yeah, that obviously never happened, so..."

"Oh, ok, then, I'll just take the side that I feel like at the moment if you're ok with it?"

"Yeah, sure." 

 

They start like before with Clarke on her hands and knees, presenting herself to Octavia. Only this time they are both fully naked. 

Clarke has looked a little bit longer at the younger woman's lean body before they got in position. Even covered with scars, or maybe even because of them, Octavia's body is nothing short of marvelous. Strong muscles twitching under her soft skin, well rounded breasts with perky nibbles, the defined line of her collarbones that is only rivaled by her sharp jaw line. There's no mistaken here, Octavia Blake is a very attractive woman, and Clarke is honest enough to admit that to herself.

The air of their bedroom is already filled with their combined pheromones and Clarke's inner omega is thrashing about, keen to be taken.

Octavia seems more eager this time, less reserved. She's massaging Clarke's breasts with full hands, already panting heavily into her ear.

Clarke enjoys this too, sparks of pleasure running through her body as Octavia works her thumbs over her hard nibbles.

It seems like the alpha's patience runs low, because it doesn't take long before she diverts her attention to Clarke's pussy and begins stroking her. She gathers the blonde's wetness on her fingertips before slipping in.

A whine escapes Clarke at the jolt of pain that runs through her at the intrusion.

"Wait! Please, wait!" She pants out.

Alarmed at her omega's distress, Octavia removes her fingers and distances herself a little bit from Clarke's shivering body.

Catching her breath, Clarke turns around and sits down on the bed, before giving an explanation to Octavia who looks at her concerned.

"I - I'm still sore from last night and I can't-" Her voice breaks at the end. She hates feeling so weak, she hates to beg, but she has to. She can't take another pounding like last night.

"Clarke," Octavia rubs her hand over her face nervously, "you have to give me your mating bite tonight. Our plan worked so far, but people are going to get suspicious if we don't share our bites as newly bonded. And you know the bite has to happen while I'm inside you and we both orgasm. Otherwise our pheromones won't combine in the right way and our new scent as mates won't be compatible. The alpha and omega inside of us won't be truly mated. I mean I know some couples need several attempts to get it right, but I don't think you'd want to try this again and again." 

"No, no, you're right. Let's get the mating done properly at the first bite, so to speak." She takes a deep breath, readying herself for her next admission.

"It's only that I don't know if I can take... you know, maybe just let me do this on my own terms?"

She is not sure if Octavia understands what she's talking about, but after hesitating shortly, the brunette nods and lies back, resting her head on the pillows that sit against the headboard.

Her cock is on full display, not fully hard yet.

Clarke watches her how she spits into her palm and then uses it to lubricate her cock. Octavia glides her hand up and down her shaft, moaning softly at the sensation. Soon enough her dick is standing proud and glistening wet in all its glory.

The sight alone makes Clarke dripping wet again and she almost forgets all of her concerns, pure lust coursing through her body.

She doesn't hesitate when Octavia gestures down on herself as an invitation for Clarke to take the initiative.

Clarke braces her knees on either sides of Octavia's hips, hovering above her dick.

She supports herself with her hands on O's hard abs, feeling the muscles quiver under her touch, before she sinks down slowly on the alpha's big cock.

She takes her time, the bulbous head breaching her entrance almost too painful. Biting her lip she powers through, breathing hard.

She gives herself some time to adjust, and when she feels herself opening up, she moves down further, impaling herself on Octavia's cock step by step, her arms and thighs quivering from exertion.

After what feels like an eternity she is fully seated on Octavia's waist, her appendage filling her to the brink.

The pain is now bearable and her omega nature provides her with a gush of juices at the feeling of the alpha's cock pocking against her womb and at hearing Octavia's lustful moan.

She starts to ride O in a slow rhythm, still trying to adjust and find the right position, the one that hurts the less.

It starts to feel good, really good. So good in fact that Clarke can easily shut out the stinging pain that has now subsided into a minor inconvenience.

When she leans forward slightly to support herself with her hands against Octavia's shoulders, the angle is just right so that the head of Octavia's cock hits her G-spot with every thrust.

She goes for the same spot again and again, rolling her hips forward with purpose, faster and faster, chasing her orgasm.

Both of them are panting and moaning loudly.

"Fuck, Clarke." 

Octavia starts to thrust upward to meet Clarke half way, her hands on the omega's waist are guiding her down, fingers digging into her skin.

Clarke lets her, just enjoying the ride now. It doesn't take long till she comes with a deep grunt, her walls fluttering around Octavia's length, pulling her in closer.

She leans down, licking over the alpha's scent gland, and at the feeling of the first spurts of Octavia's hot cum spilling into her, Clarke bites down hard.

She feels Octavia's whole body shudder as she comes with Clarke's name on her tongue.

The woman underneath her continues to pump her seed into her with slow deep thrusts while her coppery scent fills Clarke's mouth.

Clarke is ready to collapse on top of the alpha, thoroughly spent, when she suddenly feels an unwelcomed, heavy pressure at the entrance of her vagina.

Before she can fathom what is happening, she's is filled with what must be Octavia's huge knot. 

It feels like she's suddenly split open, her insides torn. A strangled wail leaves her mouth, and she desperately tries to lift herself up, to get away from the pain, to get the knot out of her.

But she's stuck, Octavia's hips follow her upwards move involuntarily, and Octavia grunts in pain too. 

In panic she tries again and again to jerk upwards, away from Octavia. She just wants to get it out, the searing pain too much to handle. But her trashing around causes new stabs of pain, and she's crying out in agony.

"Clarke! Clarke, stop!" Octavia shouts, her voice strangled, while she grips the blonde's hips trying to hold her still.

The firm command of her alpha stops Clarke, she freezes in shock, tears running down her face.

"You'll only make it worse. Please, just try to calm down and don't move, ok?" Octavia asks her softly.

She just nods, not able to form words. The hot, pulsing pain in her lower abdomen is torturous and there's no end in sight.

Octavia sends out a wave of calming pheromones, it doesn't do much regarding the pain, but in her weakened state Clarke can't resist the compelling call of her alpha. Sobbing, she collapses into Octavia's arms.

The brunette runs her left hand soothingly up and down Clarke's back while holding her tight with her right arm.

Clarke is crying quietly into O's shoulder, her body still trembling from pain.

"I'm so sorry, Clarke. That never happened before, not outside my rut. Maybe the knot has been triggered by the mating bite, I don't know. I'm so sorry." Octavia whispers into her ear.

"It'll be over soon, ok? It'll be over soon." Clarke can hear the alpha's voice crack, while Octavia continues to reassure her, but she's hardly able to concentrate on the words.

After what seems like an eternity, the knot deflates and Octavia is able to slip it out of Clarke who flinches and whimpers at the sting when she pulls out.

Finally free, Clarke scrambles off of Octavia immediately. Unsteady on her feet she stumbles to the bathroom and locks herself in.

She sits naked on the floor in a corner, just crying and sobbing, waiting for the pain to go away.

After a short while she feels the alpha's presence outside the bathroom door. 

"I'm sorry, Clarke." The words so low, she barely hears them.

She doesn't respond though, and soon O's presence is gone.

Hours later Clarke picks herself up from the floor. She's tired and exhausted, but there's a crust of blood and semen between her legs and now that the pain is only a dull ache, she has the urge to clean herself.

She fills the bathtub with warm water and some soap and immerses herself into the welcoming liquid. 

When the water comes in contact with her battered privates, she just lets the new string of pain wash over her, whimpering only a little. It's nothing compared to what she has endured. She washes herself with a soft cloth, flinching every time she comes in contact with a cut or tear wound. 

She leaves the bathroom in the early hours of the morning. Octavia is nowhere in sight and the bed freshly made, so she makes herself comfortable on the soft bed linen.

She falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow.

 

~

 

Clarke bleeds for two more days.

She hardly speaks to Octavia and for the most part Octavia leaves her alone too. They practically only talk during their meetings with the generals and advisors, planning the journey to Eden and the attack on the prison crew.

At night they sleep in the same bed, but with a large distance between them.

Octavia doesn't demand sex from her anymore. She hardly looks her in the eyes anymore either.

Due the mating bond being completed, Clarke can feel her alpha's guilt and regret. She knows the knotting hasn't been intentional, but she's not ready to forgive her yet.

On the fourth day after their mating they get a radio call from Echo telling them she has uploaded the malware into the prisoner's computer system.

With Monty now able to hack into their satellite and practically blinding them by putting the video scan on a loop, Wonkru gets ready to march.

 

 

 

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to get better between Clarke and O soon, I promise.


	4. Journey To The Valley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your kudos and comments! I didn't expect so many people to be interested in this story, so I'm happy that you like it, and I hope you'll keep enjoying it. 
> 
>  
> 
> Fair warning, especially to those who like Bellamy:
> 
> Please note that I use Bellamy as the embodiment of toxic masculinity in this fic.  
> If you feel offended by this depiction of him, then I ask you to also be offended by the showrunners who covertly and not so covertly use his character to shove the dogma of white, male privilege down your throat. (I know the actor who plays Bellamy is not white, but J. Rothenberg is.)  
> For example, everybody on this show makes bad decisions or does horrible things every now and then, but take a look at the last episode of season 5 and you only see Clarke and Octavia apologizing to Bellamy, and not Bellamy to them. It's not even an issue of who did the worst thing or who redeemed themselves in the end. It is about how the show makes us believe that the women have to apologize and make amends while the men are forgiven without question. And if that isn't exactly what is unfortunately going on in the real world for decades and especially in this political climate, then I don't know.

 

Their journey begins in the early hours of the morning when the sun is still low and the air crisp.

Everybody is in high spirits. Guided by their champion and the spirit of the commanders, and even the commander of death on their side, what could go wrong?

They make good time, but when the heat of the desert hits full force at noon, Octavia orders them to stop. They quickly build up a makeshift war tent for Blodreina and her advisors. The majority of wonkru rests in the shadows between some huge rock formations.

 

After discussing their attack plan with her generals again, Octavia dismisses them, leaving her and Clarke alone in the tent, only Madi is there with them.

She’s playing with some metal cubes in different colors, building what looks like a tower, and Clarke realizes she hasn’t seen these before. She wonders briefly if Octavia has given the new toys to Madi, but then is interrupted in her thoughts by Octavia who wants to go over all the possible entry points to the valley again.

They are on better terms now, but what Clarke refers to as the knotting incident is still fresh on her mind.

It seems like Octavia goes out of her way to show Clarke that she respects her, she includes her in all the meetings with her generals and in all the planning. She listens intently when Clarke speaks and almost always follows her advice.

Clarke is not sure if Octavia does this because she truly sees her as her equal now that they are bonded or if she just does it out of guilt. She really hopes it’s the first, but then maybe it’s a combination of both, which is fine as well.

Thanks to Clarke’s artistic talent, they have several very detailed maps of the whole terrain.

Octavia looks at the map on top of the table in full concentration, sometimes her tongue peaks out slightly, and Clarke can practically see the wheels turning in her head.

This - being in a war room, coming up with an elaborate attack plan, then having to wait, going over it again and again, it all reminds Clarke so much of her time with Lexa, it hurts.

She can almost feel her first love in the room with them, sitting calmly in a corner, twirling her knife, amused by their nervous energy. “It takes as long as it takes.”

“What?”

She wasn’t aware she said that out loud, so she’s surprised by Octavia’s question.

“Nothing,” she mumbles, “we just have to be patient. It’ll all work out.”

Octavia looks at her quizzically, but then concentrates on the map again.

“Without the satellite, the element of surprise is in our side.” Octavia muses.

"Even though their eye in the sky is blind, they'll still have people out there on the ground, keeping guard."

"That's why we'll send out scouts and..." Clarke says before realizing that her five years old daughter spoke.

She shares a baffled look with Octavia, then turns to her daughter.

"Madi, how did you think about that?"

The little girl looks up from her cubes that have been stacked to an impressive height.

"The voices in my head told me. It's mostly mama who talks to me though. She tells the others to shut up when they bother me too much." 

When the first shock at her daughter's words wears of, Clarke’s first thought is that she has to take the Flame out of Madi as soon as possible.

She knows she has to wait till the war is over, but then the Flame has to go.

She can't let her child grow up with the minds and memories and voices of the past commanders in her head. The damage to Madi's young and impressionable psyche could be disastrous, she doesn't want to think about the variety of mental illnesses that could be caused by that. 

Even if part of Lexa's mind is in there too, she won’t be able to shield their daughter against all of it.

She kneels down before her child, brushes a wayward strand of hair out of her face, and sighs.

“It’s nice that mama is helping you, babygirl, but please tell me when it all gets too much, ok? I’m going to take the flame out then, you don’t have to bear it. Do you understand?”

“Ok, mom.”

She hugs her daughter tightly, before getting up again and approaching Octavia who looks still shocked at the revelation. Other than Clarke who got a little info about how the Flame works from Lexa here and there, Octavia is mostly clueless to it. She hasn’t even been in the City of Lights back then.

 

Staying on topic, there’s another aspect of Madi’s ascension that Clarke can’t forget about.

“What are you going to do to those who did this to my daughter? Are you going to punish Bellamy and Gaia? Because as of now, I just see them both free, walking around camp like nothing happened.” She asks angrily.

“Clarke,” Octavia sighs, “when we left the bunker, we had to take them with us. And what do you want me to do? Leave them in chains? We can’t spare any warriors to keep guard over them, besides where would they go?”

“I know, but it looks like they are freed of charges already, and, fuck, Octavia, I’m still furious about what they did. They forced a five years old to get a chip implanted into her brainstem. I’ve been through that, and it’s a painful procedure. And what if it hadn’t worked? For all we know Madi could be brain dead by now!”

“Clarke, you’re right, they deserve punishment, but it would be foolish to do that now.” Octavia explains, pumping out soothing pheromones, obviously to calm her furious mate. “Gaia is needed to keep the followers of the Flame in line and maybe, Madi will need her guidance in regards to the Flame later on. And Bellamy, well, we don’t really need him, but we need Echo on our side. Right now she’s our most valuable asset, she’s our Trojan horse behind the enemies’ lines. And she won’t help us anymore if we execute her mate.”

“So, you are just going to let him get away with it? After all that he has done? What about after the war?”

“I don’t know, Clarke. I mean, he is still my brother.”

Clarke feels her anger rising again.

“He violated my child! He poisoned you!”

"What do you want me to do? Wonkru's only form of punishment is the fighting pits. And now that we left the bunker and there’s no need for population control, there’s no point anymore in letting people fight to their death. On the contrary, every life is even more important now that we can live on the ground once more.”

She knows Octavia is right, they will have to salvage humanity. _From the ashes, we will rise,_ and all that jazz. Rise and then do what? That’s the question. How do they build up a better society, one that preferably won’t destroy itself or the planet they are living on.

"When this is all over you need to establish another system for punishment."

"Like imprisonment?"

"No, I was thinking about having to repay your debt to society, like if you stole from someone, you have to work for them for a certain amount of time."

"Ok, sounds good. I've been thinking of reinstating some kind of council again and maybe a court, we’ll need a justice system, a form of government,… but I’m getting ahead of myself. We can think about that later." 

We - Octavia said we not I, Clarke notices. Maybe the alpha actually sees them as equals, as partners in their relationship and as leaders for their people. It gives her hope.

 

Her thoughts are interrupted when Octavia wonders aloud, “I still don’t understand why Bellamy poisoned me, and then helped Gaia to give Madi the Flame. I mean does he actually think a five year old would be a better leader than me?”

“No, he did it, because he wanted to be in charge again.” Madi interjects.

Stunned Octavia and Clarke look at the girl who promptly elaborates.

“He would never respect or accept a woman to be in charge, let alone his baby sister. He sees himself as the leader, he can’t fathom that anybody else would know better than him. He would do anything to mold the world according to his belief of male alpha dominance, even almost kill his own sister.

The way he sees it, because he’s a male alpha, he can’t do anything wrong. And if something he did, turns out to be wrong, then he thinks it’s because others made him do it, or because they forced him to react to their - in his eyes wrong - decisions.

His faults are never his own, but of course his victories are. If he does something right, be it ever so small, then of course he is the big hero and must be celebrated and honored for it. That’s the mindset he lives in.

At least that’s what mama says.” Madi shrugs nonchalantly.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

During the five day journey to the valley Octavia goes into rut. It starts on the second night, and Clarke immediately notices the change in her alpha’s scent.

They share a tent, but Clarke and Madi share a cot while Octavia sleeps alone.

During their travel there's no need to share the bed with Octavia. If anyone enters the tent of Blodreina unexpectedly, they would probably assume that the child needed her mother's warmth in the cold desert nights. 

It hasn't even been a discussion between them, seeing the two cots in their tent that were almost too small for two people, their sleeping arrangements have been clear from day one.

So the second night, Clarke breathes in her alpha’s scent that reeks of aggression and lust, and also something that makes her omega want to submit and beg to be taken. She hates it.

Through the mating bond she can also feel Octavia's pain at not being able to release the pressure.

She hears slapping noises of skin on skin, Octavia panting, then moaning in short relief before groaning in frustration again.

The whole night Octavia is restless, thrashing around on her cot.

 

In the morning Clarke sees her washing the sweat away with the clean water from a small basin that substitutes a bathroom.  She still looks heated and sweaty afterwards, her clothes sticking to her body.

They share a brief look, and Clarke can see the hot desire in her mate’s eyes, before Octavia averts her eyes quickly and ducks out of the tent. She knows every fiber in the alpha’s body is probably telling her to take her omega, to fuck her, to fill her up till she’s bursting with her seed.

But Octavia isn’t complaining, she hasn’t even mentioned her rut to Clarke, let alone asked her to satisfy her need.

She assumes that Octavia is still keeping her distance because of the guilt she feels over the knotting incident, or maybe now that they are mated, Octavia has accepted that there’s no reason for them to have sex anymore – at least not just for appearances or to make a deal or to reunite their people.

They are not forced to have sex anymore, and Octavia doesn’t demand it, so that should come as a relief to Clarke. And it does, it is a relief. Mated against her will, she’s certainly not completely free, but at least she can decide now what she wants to do with her body.

Unexpectedly she realizes she wants to help Octavia out. She isn’t sure if that’s because Octavia is her mate now or because she feels sympathy towards her.

But she still feels sore between her legs, and the unpleasant memories of the painful knotting make her fear having sex during the alpha’s rut. Even the thought of penetrative sex terrifies her right now.

So she pushes down her own desire, just going on with her day.

 

Octavia’s rut gets worse though. During the day she’s overly aggressive to her generals and people in general. She even picks a fight with a young warrior who dares to look at her a little bit too long.

In the end the tall beta is kneeling in the dirt before her, baring his throat in utter surrender.

Clarke can see the fear in the people’s eyes all around them, when Blodreina stomps away in a fury, after being a second away from ripping his throat out.

They can probably all smell that their almighty leader is in rut. Maybe they wonder if Clarke - as her mate - is taking care of her.

 

 

On the third day of their journey, the second night of Octavia’s rut, Clarke can't take it anymore.

Lying on the cot besides Madi, Clarke hears Octavia whimper and rustling. She feels the agony of her mate. Octavia's pheromones are all over the place, a desperate call for her mate, for any omega really. 

Clarke gets aroused by the scent of her alpha alone. It's a magnetic pull, and she silently curses her biology for making her so weak. 

In the end it's easier to blame her omega nature for what she is about to do than to admit that she feels sorry for her distressed mate and doesn't want to see her in pain. 

Doing this for Octavia requires a level of trust that Clarke herself is surprised she apparently already acquired. She has to trust her mate to let her do her thing and not just take her by force in the middle of it like her alpha in rut probably demands of her.

Come to think of it, she’s probably a reckless fool for even considering getting near the alpha.

However, Clarke is nothing but a stubborn, reckless fool, so once she has made up her mind, there’s no going back.

She carefully wiggles herself away from Madi, leaves their shared cot and swiftly crosses the tent to the corner where Octavia rests.

Octavia is on her side, facing away from her, so she lies down on her side too, spooning the brunette from behind.

When their bodies connect and she lays her hand on Octavia's hip, she feels her mate’s body stiffen.

"Clarke?" Octavia asks, the insecurity clear in her throaty voice.

"Shh, it's okay. Just relax, I'm gonna make you feel better." Clarke whispers into her alpha's ear, making her shiver.

She feels the body before her relax, taking that as Octavia's consent, she presses her chest closer to O's back and slowly sneaks her hand from her hips to her front and into the alpha's soft sleep shorts.

Octavia's cock is already erect. At the first contact with Clarke's hand the eager member twitches, and Octavia's breath hitches.

Clarke closes her hand around it and slowly begins stroking up and down the shaft. Its skin is warm, soft and satiny, and Clarke feels herself getting wet more and more.

After a few minutes Octavia is panting heavily, and when Clarke brushes her thumb over the sensitive tip of her cock, the alpha lets out an obscenely loud moan.

"Shh, not so loud, baby. Madi has a deep sleep but we have to be careful."

The pet name leaves her lips before she can think about it. She almost regrets it, feeling a sting of pain at the memory of the last time she used it to address a lover.

Octavia must really like it though, because suddenly Clarke is hit with a wave of happiness and care from her alpha.

She casts it aside quickly, not ready to dwell on the significance, instead concentrating at the task at hand.

She brushes her thumb over Octavia's glans over and over again, gathering precum from her slit, before using it as lubrication for her strokes along the shaft, pumping faster and faster now.

Octavia is moaning and squirming in Clarke's hold and when she pushes her ass back against the omega's front, Clarke groans at the friction on her privates. She's just in her underwear too, so she can feel Octavia's rock hard gluteal muscles pressing into her lower region. It elicits a jolt of arousal that goes right to her clit.

Keeping up her movements on Octavia's dick, Clarke starts to rub herself against the alpha's well-formed behind. 

Her breath is hot and heavy on the alpha's skin, causing goosebumps to arise.

When Octavia bares her neck to her, she can't help herself. She simply has to lick the offered skin before she gently bites into it right above the alpha's scent gland. The bite sets free another strong wave of pheromones, their mingling scents push them both closer and closer to the edge.

Octavia's wonderful ass urges Clarke to run her free hand over the smooth skin and toned muscles, and suddenly an image of her fucking Octavia with a strap-on floods her mind.

The idea makes her walls clench around nothing and the heat rise in her lower stomach. Inspired by it she quickly wets the index finger of the hand that is not occupied with her mate’s dick, before moving it to Octavia's opening. She circles the pink rosette a few times and then pushes in a little bit.

"Ahh..." Octavia almost screams, pushing against Clarke's finger at the same time.

"Do you like that? Do you want me to fuck you in the ass?" Clarke whispers into her ear.

Octavia only nods, probably not able to speak, and Clarke pushes in a little bit more.

"Yeah, I bet you do. Did Lincoln fuck you in the ass with his beta cock? Did he fill you up nice and good?" 

Octavia trembles underneath her, nodding furiously.

"Please..." The alpha whimpers.

Clarke pulls her finger out before pushing in again until she's knuckle-deep, causing the alpha to gasp and writhe. Octavia's soft walls engulfing her finger feel incredible.

Her hand on O's cock has slowed down, her strokes more powerful and intense now. She can feel Octavia's knot forming at the base. 

"One of these days I'm going to fuck your ass with an enormous strap-on. I'm gonna fuck you raw, baby. Would you like that?" She rasps into O's ear.

"Yes. Fuck!" Octavia grunts.

Clarke feels O's whole body convulse before her cock erupts, painting her shorts with her seed. 

Her mate’s juices coating her hand, she longs for her own release.

So she quickly takes her finger out of Octavia and thrusts her pelvis against the alpha's butt, the pressure on her clit just right to reach her orgasm.

Shuddering in unison from the aftershocks, they both lie there, their bodies molded together, Clarke still stroking Octavia's dick gently till the last spurts subside.

When they've come down from the high of their orgasms, their breathing almost back to normal, Clarke is too exhausted to go back to the other cot. So she stays. Cuddling into Octavia's back, she falls into a peaceful slumber in no time.

 

 

~

 

 

The following nights are spent like this, Clarke joining Octavia on her cot when Madi is asleep, making her come with her hands till her alpha is sated.

Octavia never tries to touch her or get her to do more. She just gratefully takes what Clarke is ready to give.

And Clarke gets some pleasure out of it as well, more than she’ll admit to herself.

 

 

On the sixth day of their journey they reach their destination and Octavia’s rut is almost over.

They get ready to divide their army and carry out their elaborate plan.

Their plan includes entering the valley from the northeast entrance. It's not the direct approach, but Diyoza probably expects them to make a detour anyway.

What she won't expect is that they split up and a small group is going to enter the valley from the south which is the nearest passage to the small village where everyone stays and most importantly where their friends are held captive.

So while the bigger part of Wonkru's army is going to fight its way into the valley from the northeast, which also serves as a good distraction, because Diyoza will send reinforcements that way as soon as the guards report the attack, the smaller group should be able to enter the church and free the captives mostly undetected. Their friends would be the first to be executed when the fighting begins, so they’d have to get them to safety quickly.

After their friends are freed and their army in the northeast has successfully breached the valley, they could carry out their plan of guerilla-like attacks while hiding in the forest and caves till their enemy is bleed out.

 

It was a good plan, a plan that never came to fruition.

 

Because of course their friends made their own plan and somehow managed to start an uproar within the prison crew. Apparently the prison crew has been divided into followers of Diyoza and followers of a guy named McCreary, her second in command.

With the promise of a cure to their mysterious pulmonary disease Murphy pitted the two sides against each other, causing them to nearly wipe each other out.

The few survivors, only about one hundred of them, were all on Diyoza’s side. Not that it mattered anymore, because during the tumult their friends got away and Echo even managed to free Abby, and they all escaped. With the doctor the knowledge of the cure was gone as well.

Before Blodreina can give the order to attack, Echo, Raven, Abby, Murphy, Emori and a guy named Shaw, who claims to be an ally, come stumbling out of the woods.

 

 

 

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Clarke goes into heat.


	5. Conquering Paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I realized I had a lot of plot to cover, that’s why this chapter contains less smut than the previous ones, sorry! (Hope you’ll like it anyway!)
> 
> Before you read this chapter, here are some things that are different from canon:  
> \- Abby is not an addict. (Fuck that storyline, it’s just another way for the showrunners to make a strong, independent female character weak and unlikable.) She managed to get rid of any traces of ALIE from her brain like Raven told her.  
> \- Abby was kidnapped by Diyoza who needed a doctor for her men, she and Kane didn't go willingly. Diyoza used Kane as leverage to get Abby to work on a cure.  
> \- Diyoza is not pregnant. (Because come on, show! As if her being a (soon-to-be) mother would be the only reason why she would want to build a new home/ a safe place for a future generation.)
> 
>  
> 
> -

 

Octavia and Clarke welcome their friends, and while Clarke can afford to openly hug Raven and Emori and even Murphy, Octavia just nods at them. She obviously doesn't want to show too much affection in front of her army, but Clarke sees the warmth in Octavia's eyes and a small smile on her lips. She knows her mate is as happy as she is to see their friends again.

Echo stands by the side seemingly unsure of how she'll be received, but then Octavia goes to her and offers her arm in greeting.

They share a few words that Clarke doesn't hear, but Echo looks relieved after their conversation, so she assumes Octavia has revoked the spy's exile. Soon Bellamy is there too, kissing and hugging his Azgeda mate.

Clarke notices a little frown on Raven's face at the display of affection, but she doesn't dwell on it, because her mother catches her attention.

 

Something's wrong with Abby. She stays back, only coming closer when the others are whisked away by Indra to give their report of what happened at the prisoners' camp to Blodreina.

Approaching her mother, Clarke sees that she looks completely exhausted, her skin pale, eyes bloodshot, hair disheveled.

When they hug, Abby clings to her like she's her lifeline, and maybe she is.

"Mom. What happened?"

"Marcus, he...", her mother's voice breaks, only a sob following.

Clarke just holds her tight, sending out soothing pheromones, while her mother cries in her arms.

She knows how it feels to lose your love, your mate. Her heart aches for her mom who has to go through this twice, first Clarke's dad, now Kane.

Later, when Abby has calmed down a little, she tells Clarke about how Marcus protected her against one of the prisoners named Vinson, a giant of a guy, who was a murdering psychopath and had developed an obsession with Abby. Even though Kane managed to kill the guy, he suffered a fatal strike to his throat which ultimately ended his life too quickly for Abby to do anything about it.

 

They don't have much time to talk though. Clarke doesn't even get to tell her mom about her new relationship status, because they are soon summoned to join the others in their discussion of how to proceed.

Taking recent developments into account, a new plan of attack is hatched, and two hours later wonkru is on the move again.

 

They reach the village without meeting any resistance, and Blodreina's army has surrounded it in no time.

There's no sign of Diyoza's men. According to Murphy most of them are either sick from the pulmonary disease or injured from the fight against McCreary's crew or both.

It's clear that Diyoza's people are not ready to fight another battle, they are just hiding in the houses of the village.

So Octavia decides to seize the opportunity and march right into the village with an advance guard. Clarke is ordered to stay back, so she watches nervously how her mate walks forward into what could be a trap.

Her anxiousness is met with Octavia's confidence and also a hint of indifference, and the thought of Octavia risking her life so recklessly and uncaring doesn't sit well with her.

It reminds her too much of another brunette leader who thought her life is not as important as the greater good of her people.

She holds her breath when Blodreina in all her glory takes up position in the middle of the small market place, proclaiming through the radio set that the village is under siege and that she expects their surrender or she'll annihilate them.

Her voice is booming through the multiple loudspeakers in the village, it's intimidating and it also sends a jolt of arousal through Clarke's body.

They don't have to wait long before Diyoza comes out of the church, her men following behind her. They don't carry any weapons, instead they support their comrades who are not able to stand on their own.

Diyoza approaches Blodreina carefully, and after a short stare off, alpha pheromones thick in the air, Diyoza bows down before Blodreina. 

Their men do the same, they all submit, and Clarke preens at her alpha, who stands tall and unwavering.

The omega feels herself getting warm and a certain desire flaring up shortly. She isn't sure if it's just because of the display of power from her mate or the first signs of her impending heat. She has never been good at keeping track of her cycle.

A short nod from Octavia to her generals makes them round up Diyoza's men. It's quickly decided to hold them captive in the church after cleaning the place of all weapons of course. 

While Miller's unit is in charge of guarding the prisoners, the rest sweeps the other houses of the village for any strays. 

When all is clear, they begin their task to get wonkru settled in their new home.

 

 

Following Clarke's request Octavia takes the house where Clarke and Madi lived in before as theirs. It's also the one with the largest living room, so they create a meeting place there for official leadership business.

 

First order of the day are negotiations with Diyoza. Surprisingly the other alpha relents quickly, and they come to an agreement easily. Her men get medical treatment, including the cure for the pulmonary disease, if they all swear fealty to Blodreina and pledge their allegiance to Wonkru.

Of course the vow of a criminal is not worth much, so in the sense of 'actions speak louder than words', they have to prove their worth to Wonkru.

They are going to be split up, each one of them accompanied by at least two warriors of Wonkru and they have to help with building up the village, farming and other stuff. At night they are going to stay imprisoned till they have earned Blodreina's trust.

Seeing as Diyoza has not much to negotiate with, it's a good deal for her people.

 

 

Second order of the day is the talk with Gaia. It goes down more difficult than the one with Diyoza, but Clarke has expected as much.

After all people who strongly believe in something are not easily persuaded. Which can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing if their belief clouds their judgment so much that they don't see what's right in front of them anymore.

Gaia's faith borders on fanatical, so when Clarke tells her she wants to remove the Flame from Madi, Gaia protests vehemently.

Thankfully Indra is in the room with them and manages to calm her daughter down enough to listen to Octavia's offer.

Gaia will be forgiven for her betrayal to Blodreina and her abuse of Madi if she announces in front of all their people that Madi is too young for the Flame and that now that they can live in peace there's no need to rush the little girl into being the next commander. They're going to take out the Flame for now and Madi is going to be trained by Octavia, Clarke, Gaia and Indra for her future leadership role. She'll only have her ascension when the time comes and she's off age.

After explaining their plan, Gaia is still not convinced, and Clarke is losing her patience. 

"Listen, I'm going to take the Flame out of my child whether you help me or not. So do yourself a favor and play along, sell the story to the followers of the Flame, or else I promise you, I'm going to give you a taste of the Flame myself. Let's see how you like it to have a small robot latch on to your brainstem. As far as I could tell from Emerson's screams it's a rather painful death." Clarke says coldly, barely suppressing her anger.

Finally Gaia relents and accepts the offered deal. With a small satisfaction Clarke notices the fear in the priestess' eyes.

 

 

Octavia is still undecided about what to do with her brother, so Clarke lets it be for now.

 

 

 ~

 

 

After a long, eventful day Clarke, Octavia and Madi are huddled around the fire place in their new home. Soon Abby joins them for dinner.

The older alpha is still reeling from her mate's death, and although her new house is right next to theirs, Clarke has invited her mother to come over. She figured her mom could use some family time.

After all, what is better suited to give some solace than the happy giggles of a five years old. Madi shows her Grandma her drawings and eagerly explains every picture. She had a lot of time to draw while Clarke and Octavia held their meetings.

"Look, this is our house and this is mom and Octavia and me." She points at some stick figures, two bigger ones, one of them with a yellow blob as a head, the other with a brown one, and a smaller stick figure in the middle. 

There's another stick figure in the background, right above the smaller one.

"And who's that?" Abby asks.

"That's mama. She says she's always with me no matter what." Madi explains, and Clarke hardly chokes back her tears.

"I can draw you too, see, there's enough room left for you. Would you like that, gramma?"

"Sure, Madi. I'd love that." Abby answers while casting concerned glances to her daughter. 

When Clarke feels like her voice will be steady enough to not show how much the mention of Lexa as part of their family has thrown her off balance, she leans down to her daughter, takes her crayons away and softly says, "hey, babygirl, it's getting late. Why don't you draw grandma tomorrow and go to bed?"

"But mom, I don't want to go to bed." Madi protests, but can't suppress a yawn.

"What if Octavia tells you a bedtime story? She knows so many great stories and you've already heard mine many times."

"YES! I want Octavia to tell me a story!" Madi exclaims enthusiastically.

Clarke almost laughs at Octavia's expression, the mighty leader looks like a deer in headlights.

When Madi jumps up and down in front of her, tugging on her sleeve, asking again and again, "Will you tell me a story, Octavia?", the alpha recovers quickly from her surprise and agrees.

Together they bring Madi to her bedroom, Clarke tucking her in. Octavia settles in a chair besides the bed, leaning forward to be closer to Madi and begins to tell the bedtime story. It's from Greek mythology about a guy named Orpheus who has lost his wife, Eurydice, and went to the underworld to get her back to the living.

 

Clarke lingers in the doorway, listening to the story too, but soon Abby motions for her to follow her outside.

They step in front of the house, and as soon as their eyes meet, Clarke knows her mother doesn't simply want to say goodbye for the night.

"So, Octavia forced you to marry her, to mate with her?" Well, at least Abby is not beating around the bush.

"After Gaia and Bellamy had given Madi the flame, Wonkru was starting to fall apart. It was the best choice, politically speaking."

"Don't defend her, Clarke. I have been one of Blodreina's advisors for six years. I know what she's capable of and I know there's almost nothing she won't do if she thinks it's the best for her people. That doesn't make this right." Abby states emphatically.

"It's... I know." Clarke sighs.

"What I also know is that you wouldn't have let her do this to you if you hadn't thought it was worth it. I know you, Clarke, you are very resourceful. You always find a way. You could have just killed her, let Gaia crown Madi as Heda, then take charge yourself. Why didn't you?"

"I don't know." Clarke responds automatically, surprised by the question at first, but then the answer comes to her almost by itself and even though she hasn't really thought about it before, she knows what she says next is the truth.

"I didn't want to kill her. And maybe after everything, I didn't want to be the one in charge anymore. I didn't want to be the one who tells their people to go fight and die for them."

"And yet here you are, a leader to the people again." Abby counters.

"It's different. We are at peace now. I'm going to help build a new society, a nation, not destroy it." Clarke argues.

"Hmm. Just tell me this, are you happy? With her?" Her mother's tone is softer now.

"I... I think I will be."

"Then I won't hold what she did to you against her."

"Thank you, mom."

 

 

~

 

 

The next day Gaia gives the whole spiel about Madi and the Flame in front of their people. There are a few critical voices but overall the followers of the Flame seem to accept that their Heda is not ready yet and most importantly not needed yet.

 

After the gathering Clarke and Gaia remove the Flame from Madi.

Before they do it, Clarke has to promise her daughter that her mama will still be there with her, she can't hear her voice in her head anymore, but she'll carry her in her heart.

The process thankfully runs smoothly, and Madi is quickly recovering afterwards.

Clarke insists on locking the Flame away in a safe only she can open. Raven has provided her with a small safe deposit box from the prisoner's space ship that can only be opened with Clarke's finger print.

She agrees to let Gaia keep the box that contains the Flame though, for worshipping or whatever.

 

 

~ 

 

 

Over the next few days Wonkru makes themselves at home in the valley. There's so much to do, so much to organize, especially for Octavia and Clarke.

 

One afternoon Clarke steals away though. She needs a break and she realizes she hasn't really spoken to Raven about anything other than technical stuff that could be useful for their people. She misses her friend.

So Clarke visits the brilliant woman who spends most of her time in the prisoners' transfer-spaceship working on some tech together with the prisoner's pilot and overall tech guy, Shaw. 

When she enters the ship, she finds Raven on the loading dock tinkering with something that looks like a filtering system. Clarke almost chokes on the musty alpha scent in the room, but her beta friend seems unaffected. Shaw has invaded Raven's personal space and looks at her expectedly.

Before Clarke can make herself known, Raven steps back from the guy and says with clear distaste,

"No, absolutely not. What? Just because we're the only two people on this planet who know how to fly a spaceship, you think we're gonna fuck?" 

He looks completely blindsided, like the thought that Raven would reject him never even crossed his mind.

Clarke clears her throat. When he notices her, the guy leaves the scene in a hurry, mumbling something about having to check the logs.

Raven and Clarke break out into laughter as soon as he's around the corner.

"He seems like a catch. You're not interested?" Clarke teases her friend.

"Nah, I've had enough of male alphas with Finn and Bellamy..."

"Bellamy?" Clarke asks surprised.

"Just some stress relief back in the days when we were new on earth. Nothing worth mentioning."

"So good, huh?" Clarke snorts.

"So, what are you looking for, Raven?"

"I... something different, you know." Raven mumbles.

"Hmm. Got someone in mind?"

"No." Raven's denial comes way too quickly.

"Oh my God, you have! Who is it? Someone who's been up there with you in space?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Clarke, they are all coupled up, mated even. Monty and Harper, Emori and Murphy, Bellamy and Echo...", Raven casts her eyes down and starts to fidget with some metal pieces again. It isn't a no to her question though, Clarke notices.

"Six years of being the fifth wheel or seventh," she chuckles mirthlessly, "that really sucked."

"Hey Raven," Clarke nudges her friend till she looks her in the eyes, "you know you're the best of us, right? And you deserve only the best."

"Pfff, of course I am." Her false cockiness can't hide her sadness, but Clarke decides to not press further for now.

 

"So... you and O, huh?" Raven deflects.

"Yeah, it was a political decision."

Raven raises a brow inquisitively.

So Clarke tells Raven the truth. This time she doesn't make the same mistake as in the talk with her mother, she doesn't sugarcoat things.

"Shit, Clarke, that's really fucked up. Do you want me to blow her up? I can make it look like an accident." Raven offers after hearing what happened.

And Clarke knows she probably would do that if she asked her too. In that moment she's deeply grateful for a friend like Raven.

"Thanks, but no. We... we had a rough start, but things changed, and I can feel a connection with her that maybe could become something real, you know?"

"Isn't that just what the mating bond is all about? The deeper connection?"

"Yes, but I don't think it's only the mating bond. It's hard to explain."

"Ok, well, just let me know if you need my help."

"Yeah, thanks, Raven."

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

They've been living in the valley for a little bit over a week when Clarke goes into heat. She is caught by surprise and curses herself for being so unprepared.

She has been too busy with helping everyone get settled, showing people where to find clean water, fruits, land for farming, etc., that she just didn't pay attention to the first signs of her heat. 

It hits her hard in the early hours of the morning. She wakes up, sweaty and an uncomfortable ache between her legs. Her first instinct is to search for her mate, but Octavia isn't there.

 

Since they've lived in Clarke's house they've shared the spacious bed in what now is their bedroom. Madi has insisted that she's a big girl and wants her own room.

Clarke doesn't mind to share a bed with Octavia anymore, it's big enough to allow a comfortable distance between them. Though Clarke has found herself seeking out Octavia's warmth more and more during the last few nights. Her alpha's scent close to her has helped her sleep more peacefully.

 

It's all the more disappointing to wake up to an empty bed this morning. Octavia must have gotten up early to lead the first hunting party.

Groaning, Clarke turns around on her back, spreading herself out on the huge bed she has all to herself, unfortunately.

There's a familiar coiled feeling in her lower belly and she knows she has to take care of it soon.

She spent six years without a lover, she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself, at least that's what she thinks.

So she does exactly that. 

Her fingers find her clit effortlessly, playing with the small nub till she's wet enough to push the first finger inside her channel. Relieved she finds that her wounds from the unexpected knotting have completely healed and penetration is no longer painful.

While thrusting her fingers in and out, picking up speed, as always her mind drifts to Lexa. She pictures her former lover, touching her lean muscles, kissing her soft skin, exploring her mouth with her tongue. When Lexa enters her with her magnificent cock, their eyes meet and Clarke drowns in a sea of green. 

She's almost there, the tension coiling, her walls quiver around her fingers. 

But suddenly the eyes don't belong to her late mate anymore, the green changes to a lighter shade and she sees Octavia's face in front of her inner eye instead.

Before she can process what's happening, she comes with Octavia's name on her lips.

Fuck.

She sobs involuntarily. A heavy guilt settling on her chest, she's barely able to breathe. It feels like she betrayed Lexa, and it hurts so bad. 

Her heat doesn't let her grieve for too long though. There's a thirst again deep inside her that needs to be quenched.

It's not her fault, she argues with herself. She's mated to a new alpha, so of course her inner omega calls out for her current mate.

She'll always love Lexa, but now her biology demands another one to satisfy her needs.

So she goes at it again, fucking herself with her fingers till her hand cramps.

She groans in frustration because even after two more orgasms she still feels unsatisfied, her heat worse than ever.

Maybe it's because now that she's mated again, her body won't be satisfied until it's her mate who gives her pleasure.

 

It's still morning, but Madi is awake and she can hear her daughter singing and crashing around in the kitchen. 

Reluctantly she cleans herself and leaves her bedroom to make breakfast for her daughter, only to see the girl has already helped herself to some fruits and a far too big piece of dried meat.

She knows with her heat, she won't be able to spend much time with her daughter over the next few days and furthermore she doesn't want Madi to hear her and Octavia when the alpha comes home. By herself Clarke has always managed to be relatively quiet when taking care of her heat, but she has a feeling with Octavia in the mix, chances are high that Madi hears something she shouldn't.

She's not alone with her daughter anymore and she realizes that also has its advantages, like having Abby babysit her grandchild for a few days. 

Although Abby is busy at the clinic, she agrees to give some of her patients over to Jackson and make time to take care of Madi.

With that settled, Clarke returns home to wait for Octavia.

 

 

She smells her alpha before she sees her, before Octavia has even opened the door of their bedroom. It's an earthy scent, rich, but not too heavy, a curious mixture of something metallic and fresh chopped wood with a sweetness underneath it all that shouldn't fit, but somehow completes Octavia's scent perfectly.

In that moment Clarke can't imagine anything more alluring. Her inner omega craves her mate, responding with a surge of her own fragrance. 

Her call has clearly been received as Octavia barges into the room, looking ready to take her on the spot.

Somehow she manages to stop right before the foot of the bed. Her fists clenched at her sides, pupils blown wide, her face contorted with the effort to hold herself back.

"Clarke?", Octavia croaks, "your heat...what...?"

Clarke knows what she's asking.  _What do you want me to do? What do you need?_

"Get off your clothes and come here."

Almost frantically O does what she's told, she casts off her leather and metal armor, and then strips down to her underwear. 

She hesitates shortly, but when Clarke gives her a nod of approval, she scrambles up on the bed.

Clarke quickly discards the last remnants of her own clothes before she sits up on her knees and takes Octavia's face between her hands.

Looking deeply into Octavia's now almost black eyes, she requests with a surprisingly steady voice, "Octavia, I need you to eat me out and make me come with your mouth at least three times or else I swear I'm gonna spontaneously combust. Do you think you can do that?"

Octavia nods her head enthusiastically.

So without further ado Clarke lays back and spreads her legs invitingly.

Much to her surprise Octavia dives right in. She would have expected some hesitance, to her knowledge the younger alpha has never been with a woman. But either Octavia is a natural talent or she has more experience than Clarke thought, because fuck.

Octavia finds her clit immediately and presses her flat tongue firmly against it. The unexpected move makes Clarke almost jump from the bed, a jolt of pleasure running through her body, but Octavia grabs her thighs, holding her in place.

Before she knows it Octavia takes the sensitive nub into her mouth, sucking on it, and Clarke gasps, already feeling the pressure in her lower abdomen rising to a point of no return.

Octavia's soft lips on her clit are suddenly replaced by a sharp tinge of teeth and Clarke tumbles over the edge embarrassingly fast. 

Octavia lets go of her clit with a pop and Clarke can practically feel the smirk on her face. 

She doesn't give her much time to recover though, instead starts to lick up Clarke's juices all the way from her hole to her clit. It feels like she savors every single drop from her first orgasm. When it's all cleaned up, Octavia doesn't seem to have enough, because she goes right to the source. She spreads Clarke's labia with her fingers before circling her entrance tentatively. At Clarke's needy whines, she dips her tongue inside. 

"Please, more..." Clarke begs, grinding her hips against O's face.

Octavia's moan reverberates against her folds as she licks along her slit one more time before pushing her tongue into Clarke's core as deep as it goes.

A guttural moan escapes the omega's lips, her whole body on fire. 

Octavia's tongue-fucks her fervently, and Clarke thrusts her hips along to the alpha's hot appendage so that she’s practically humping O's face.

She comes a second time, screaming her alpha's name, her juices gushing all over Octavia's face.

But Octavia doesn't stop. She eats her out relentlessly, circling her clit with her thumb, thrusting her tongue in and out, licking every spot, every crevice of her cunt, till she has made Clarke come again and again and again.

By the time her fifth orgasm rolls over her body in a pulsing, hot wave, Clarke is drenched in sweat and panting so hard that she barely gets enough air into her lungs.

She tugs on Octavia's hair to sign for her to stop, not able to form words. Her body feels like mush and she can't think properly anymore. She's never been so thoroughly eaten out in her life.

Octavia continues to lap up her juices, slowly, languidly, brushing over her overly sensitive clit every now and then. 

Clarke feels her walls clench in aftershocks, but it's all too much now, she's too sensitive, too exhausted, so she tugs on O's hair more firmly this time till the alpha comes up from between her legs with a low growl.

Clarke wonders how Octavia is not tired, where she gets the energy from.

"It's enough for now. I can't... anymore." Clarke mumbles. 

At that Octavia's feral expression softens, and she looks at Clarke more like a puppy who's asking for its master's approval.

"You did so good, baby." Clarke praises her alpha. 

A wide grin spreads on O's face, Clarke's juices are smeared all over her cheeks and lips and dripping from her chin.

The adorable sight makes Clarke laugh. She reaches for a handkerchief on the bedside table, and gently wipes Octavia's face clean with it.

Octavia purrs at the tender touch.

"You were fantastic. Where did you learn that? I thought you've only been with male betas."

Octavia blushes and looks away, before she stammers, 

"Six years were a long time and when I was in rut... well, let's just say some people were eager to please their queen and I returned the favor."

"Some people?" Clarke quirks an eyebrow.

"Mostly Niylah." 

"What? That thirsty omega bitch!" Clarke exclaims slightly irritated. "I knew there was something more personal in her devotion to you." 

Octavia looks at her again curiously, her head tilted. "Are you jealous?" 

"No." Clarke answers way too fast. She knows she is. She's just not able to admit it.

"Mmm, yes you are." Octavia says, with a triumphant smirk.

"Am not." Clarke sulks, averting her gaze. She's a bit angry at herself for suddenly having all these feelings for Octavia. She blames her current state for the mess of emotions.

Octavia must feel her distress, because her smirk is gone and she tentatively takes Clarke's chin between her fingers and turns the blonde's head so that she can look into her eyes.

"Hey," Octavia says softly, "you know you don't have to be jealous. I'm lucky that the most beautiful omega is my mate now, so I would never even think about somebody else, ok?"

"Ok." Clarke whispers, a little breathless from O's delicate confession. 

"Besides, you taste way better than her." Octavia adds playfully, and Clarke is grateful for her lightening the mood. She isn't ready to confront her feelings towards the alpha, to analyze why she cares so much that O thinks she's beautiful, maybe even likes her.

So, Clarke joins in on the banter.

“Sweet talker.” 

"Yeah. What can I say? I'm smooth as fuck." Octavia grins.

Laughing, Clarke feels a new wave of arousal washing over her. Her heat rearing its head again.

"Well, if you like my taste so much, you sure don't mind going down there again."

"Not at all. Ready for another round?"

"Ready whenever you are."

"As you wish, mylady."

 

 

 

 ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Clarke's heat continues. But there's going to be lots of angst.


	6. Trauma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your kudos and comments! They motivate me immensely to keep writing. 
> 
> Just a heads-up that this chapter is pretty dark, but don't worry, everything will be ok(ish) at the end. 
> 
> Trigger warning for rape (NOT Clarke/Octavia pairing).

 

 

The following day Octavia has to leave early in the morning again. She tried to relinquish her duties for the day to Indra who came to pick her up for the meeting with her generals, but Indra was having none of it.

Apparently the new peacekeepers are being sworn in today and that requires the presence of Blodreina.

Without any outside forces who pose a threat to Wonkru now, there's no need to have a huge army anymore. So most of the warriors go back to being farmers, craftsmen, hunters or whatever they've done before Praimfaya.

Apart from Blodreina's personal guard, only about 70 warriors remain and build up a kind of police force who Octavia named peacekeepers. Obviously their purpose is to keep peace within Wonkru and later - when Wonkru's code of law is completed - they are going to have the right to fight against crime.

The establishment of the peacekeepers is a good thing, a big step towards building a society, but today Clarke hates it from the bottom of her heart.

Her heat is still going strong and she needs her alpha.

When Octavia had left their bed earlier and Clarke heard her argument with Indra through the bedroom door, she was about to go out there and give Indra a piece of her mind. She was already halfway to the door, but then Octavia came back into the room, eyeing her somewhat amusedly.

"Were you going to put on some clothes before you go out there to rip Indra a new one?"

 "... No?" Clarke had to admit, she hadn't even thought about that. All she could think of was that Indra was about to take her alpha away from her.

Octavia just grinned, which infuriated Clarke even more.

"Exceptional situations call for exceptional measures." 

"Really? That's what you're going with?" Octavia laughed.

"Oh, shut up. My brain is practically mush during my heat. I'm pretty much single minded right now and you know it!"

"I do. I'm sorry, Clarke. I know this is hard for you and believe me, it's hard for me too to leave you alone in your heat. But you heard Indra, I have to go."

"Whatever." Clarke huffed.

"I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." 

And so Octavia left her alone, only a small cloud of her scent lingering in the room.

 

~

 

Several hours later and she feels miserable. Her various attempts to satisfy herself have been fruitless. 

After eating some dried meat and vegetables for lunch, she just lays there, willing her alpha to come back already. She's sure by now the whole valley must be flooded with her omega pheromones. 

She had only been mated to Lexa for a short time, and during her heat Lexa had been with her all the time. That's how Madi was sired. She smiles at the memories. 

Suddenly she realizes that there's no sting of pain anymore when she thinks about Lexa. Of course there's still a dull ache in her heart that will probably never go away, but the sharp, breathtaking agony she used to feel at the memory of her love is gone. It's been gradually replaced by fondness and gratefulness for their time together. The process so slow, she hasn't even recognized it until now. She doesn't want to chase the memories away quickly, to bury them deep in her mind, together with all the sorrow. She wants to dwell in them, relish them. 

She has told Madi stories about her sire before, but now so many more come to mind, and she can't wait to tell all of them to their daughter.

 

 

Her musings are interrupted by the creak of the bedroom door being opened.

For a second she thinks Octavia came back, but then a vaguely familiar, slightly repugnant scent fills the air.

Before she is able to lift her head from the pillow to look who is there, a heavy, male body is on top of her, pressing her into the mattress.

She struggles in an attempt to get the assailant off of her, but he is stronger than her and has her pinned down in seconds.

His breath on her cheek, head hovering over hers, she sees him clearly for the first time, and the sight makes her blood run cold.

"Hey, Clarke." He purrs.

"Bellamy, what are you doing? Let me go!" Clarke exclaims and struggles against his hold again, feeling panic rising.

"Hey, shhh. I'm just here to help you, little omega."

"Bellamy, please just go. I won't tell Octavia, I promise. Just leave me alone." She tries to negotiate, her voice unsteady from fear.

His mirthless laughter causes Clarke to shiver.

"You think I'm afraid of my little sister? I'm the only true alpha here. And I know exactly what you need." He boasts menacingly.

"No, please..." She whimpers.

"No need to beg, baby, I'm going to give it to you real good. You won't want anybody else ever again afterwards, I promise." He whispers into her ear, before he leans back and rips her sleep shirt in half with one swift movement, revealing her breasts.

Her arms free for a moment, she tries to punch him, but he grabs her wrists and holds them tight together over her head with one of his large hands.

His other hand begins to fondle her right breast while he dips down his head and takes her left nipple into his mouth.

"Please stop, Bellamy!" Clarke gasps.

In horror she realizes that her body is responding to Bellamy's ministrations against her will. 

Her nipples are getting stiff and arousal pools between her legs. Even her scent changes, the fear that has been predominant making room for lust. 

Bellamy must have sensed that too, because she can feel his grin on her skin.

While he's leaving wet, open-mouthed kisses all over her breasts and neck, his free hand trails down her torso to the waistband of her pants.

"No! Don't!" She protests in a last desperate effort to make him stop.

But it's to no avail. 

He pushes his hand down her pants, cupping her mound. Immediately she feels one of his fingers stroking along her wet folds.

Her whole body is trembling at the sensation and she can't hold back another whimper.

This can't be happening.

Bellamy's mouths is directly next to her ear when his sardonic voice rings through her head, 

"See, your pussy is weeping for my cock."

With that he pushes his fingers into her entrance.

Clarke wants to scream at the sudden intrusion, but he silences her with his mouth on hers. 

While his tongue plunders her mouth, his fingers work her open relentlessly.

In that moment Clarke hates her body for letting him, for even welcoming him with a fresh gush of her juices, for betraying her.

When he stops kissing her, pulls his fingers out, and leans back on his haunches, all fight has left her.

She doesn't move, she can't, she's just trying to catch her breath. Silent tears are running down her cheeks, as she watches him opening his belt and pulling down the zipper of his pants.

There's an almost maniac smile on his face. He knows he has won. Clarke's omega is going to let his alpha take her. There's nothing she can do about it. Her heat too strong, her body stimulated and ready. 

She knows what's coming next, so she closes her eyes and wills her mind away to another place, a safe haven.

But the seemingly inevitable doesn't come.

 

 

There's a loud growl and another scent and before Clarke registers that it's her mate's, the body above her is gone, and Bellamy's surprised yelp and a dull thud fill the room.

She opens her eyes in an instant, sits up and is met with a familiar green pair. 

"Clarke, are you ok?" 

Octavia. Octavia is here.

Clarke sobs in relief.

Before she can find refuge in her mate's arms though, their attention is drawn to Bellamy who scrambles back to his feet from where he fell to the floor.

His face is red and contorted with anger.

"She should be mine!" He growls. "Clarke is my omega! We are meant to be. We should have been together a long time ago. But then that bitch Lexa showed up and ruined everything. And after her death, when Clarke finally was free and things were falling into place, fucking Praimfaya happened. I was stuck in space with very limited options, Echo was the only unmated omega there. So of course we fucked. I only gave her my bite and received hers cause I thought Clarke was dead. But she's not and she's supposed to be mine! And now my own fucking sister took her away from me! That's not right! She belongs to me!” He screams the last part in rage, advancing them.

Clarke scrambles back to the head of the bed, while Octavia positions herself between her and Bellamy, shielding her from him.

She pushes her brother back to gain some more space.

“No, she doesn’t! She’s nobody’s property! Willingly or not, she became my partner and I became hers. We’re equals, we support each other.”

Bellamy scoffs.

“That’s exactly the kind of liberal propaganda I expected from a female alpha. A true man knows that the alpha owns the omega, that the omega has to submit."

A malicious grin appears on his face as he continues, "A man also knows that you have to give them your cock when they are in heat. You pathetic little bitch, you didn’t even stick it in last night, did you?"

He pushes against Octavia's shoulder. "That’s why she’s still dripping wet and calling for a real alpha like me to knot her, like the dirty whore that she is.”

“Don’t you dare speak like that about my wife!” Octavia growls threateningly.

“Or what? You know I’m right. Female alphas like you and Lexa are an abomination! You shouldn't even exist. And you sure as hell shouldn't be allowed to take an omega. Omegas need a strong male alpha, everybody knows that."

He takes another step forward, looking his sister in the eyes, pity and disgust coloring his tone. "You know you don't have what it takes to satisfy an omega, that's why you've only been with beta's before, little sis. Just go away and find yourself a nice beta bitch again. Leave it to a real man to take care of Clarke's heat. I mean at least it stays in the family, right?!"  

At that moment Clarke wants nothing more than to wipe the smugness from his face. 

Octavia beats her to it, her fist connecting with his face in a sickening crack.

He stumbles back, blood gushing from his nose.

But he recovers quickly, his rage probably making him numb to the pain, he leaps forward, throwing his whole body weight into his attack.

Octavia is faster though and dodges his blow. In an instant she manages to use his momentum against him and throw him down again.

"Just give up, Bell. Surrender and I'll let you live." 

He spats out blood along with his next words.

"Let me live? Who do you think you are, you little bitch? You have nothing on me." 

Too late Clarke recognizes that there's a knife in his hand as he launches himself at Octavia again.

"O!" Clarke screams, trying to warn her, but their bodies have already collided.

For a moment it's completely silent, like everyone is holding their breath. The Blake siblings are standing still in a grotesque kind of hug.

The silence is interrupted by a gurgling, throaty noise, and Clarke doesn't know who it comes from, until blood erupts from Bellamy's mouth. 

And then there's blood everywhere, covering both alphas' faces, dripping down Bellamy's neck as he's gasping for air.

Octavia pushes him back, and only then Clarke can see the huge broadsword in O's hand, sliding slowly out of Bellamy's chest while he falls backwards.

He is dead before he hits the ground. His knife clatters to the floor besides him. It's clean of any blood.

 

 

Suddenly the whole room is filled with people and Clarke is only half aware of what's happening. 

Her eyes are trained on her mate who still stands there, unmoving, blood dripping from her face, - her brother's blood.

She moves forward, "Octavia." 

No reaction. She tries again, "Octavia," while gently touching her arm.

That seems to snap her out of it.

Octavia's face is void of any emotion, her voice empty, but steady when she orders her guards, "Secure the perimeter and take him out of here." 

"You've heard Blodreina, get his body out!" 

Startled by the new voice, Clarke looks to the open door of their bedroom.

Echo stands there, stoic as ever, and Clarke whose hand is still on her mate's arm feels Octavia's grip on her sword tighten again.

Before Clarke can say anything, Echo speaks again, firmly holding Octavia's gaze. "I came looking for him and heard everything he said. If you hadn't killed him, I would have."

Instead of an answer Octavia just nods and sheaths her sword. 

With all the people now trampling around in their bedroom, Clarke becomes acutely aware of her state of undress, only wearing panties and a torn shirt. So she grabs Octavia's hand and pulls her out of the room and into their bathroom.

Thankfully there are already some buckets with water there, standing on hot stones to keep it warm. Clarke has planned to take a bath earlier and asked a guard to bring her some water.

She tests it with her hand and finds that it's still warm enough.

Octavia hasn't moved since they entered the bathroom, so Clarke takes it upon herself to undress her mate piece by piece, starting with the sword belt and the armor.

"Clarke, what are you doing?" Octavia asks, her voice hoarse.

"We are going to take a bath." Clarke explains the obvious, she doesn't mind though. Octavia still seems to be in some kind of shock.

"Ok." O whispers and continues to just stand there while Clarke takes off her bindings and underwear. 

She fills the tub with warm water, but before getting in, she takes a washcloth, wets it and washes off the blood from her mate's face. 

Octavia stares at her while she does it, an unreadable expression on her face.

When she brushes the cloth over her eyes so that O has to close them, the alpha's hand jolts forward seeking Clarke's touch. 

Octavia's hand closing around her wrist causes Clarke to hiss in pain which of course doesn't go unnoticed by her mate.

"What has he done to you?" Octavia asks with a trembling voice while carefully inspecting Clarke's wrists where bruises are forming already.

She doesn't find the words to answer, fresh tears rolling down her face.

Octavia's eyes become dark with anger shortly before she starts crying as well. 

"I'm so sorry, Clarke. I should have been there. I shouldn't have left you alone. I should have come back earlier. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Clarke doesn't know how to answer. She just knows she needs to feel her mate and her mate needs to feel her, so she guides Octavia into the bathtub, stepping in after her.

Octavia sits down first, a trembling mess, but Clarke doesn't fare any better. So she takes a seat in between O's legs, chest to chest, embracing her tightly.

The warm water surrounds them, and they just sit there, desperately clinging to one another, crying on each other's shoulders.

Clarke's heat has simmered down to a dull ache. With her alpha so close her omega seems to be content for now.

The water is almost cold before they move again. With some soap and new washcloths Clarke finally washes herself and then Octavia again, more thoroughly this time.

The alpha purrs and melts under her touch and it's the most intimate they've ever been with each other.

When they are both clean and dry, they go back to their bedroom, hand in hand, never losing contact.

Their bedroom is so clean, nobody would ever guess what happened here merely an hour ago. No traces of blood, the bedclothes changed, windows opened to let the fresh evening breeze in.

This night they lay in each other’s arms, with as much skin contact as possible, breathing each other's calming scent in. 

It's the only way they are able to find some sleep. 

 

 

~

 

 

The next few days Octavia is distant. Emotionally. Not physically, no, she's always around Clarke, never leaving her sight.

It seems though as if her mate does it mostly for her, to make her feel safe. And Clarke doesn't complain, cause it works. 

After that night even the thought of being alone frightens her.

They go about their day as usual, they hold meetings, overlook the progress of the build up of the village, talk to the farmers and craftsmen.

The old houses are being repaired, new ones build. Monty is happier than Clarke has ever seen him as Octavia put him and an experienced farmer, named Fron, in charge of looking for the most suitable farming land and developing a plan for what seeds to plant when and where.

Nobody could tell that Blodreina is different, nobody but Clarke. She can see the hollowness in her mate's eyes, as if she's only a shell of her former self.

 

 

After three days Echo tells them that she arranged a burial for Bellamy. She says she didn't want to at first, but he was her mate and they had several good years together in space after all, and she can't bring herself to just throw his remains out to feed the scavengers.

Echo is a big softie under her hard spy persona, that's what Clarke thinks. If it were up to her, she would have dumped his corpse somewhere in the desert three days ago.

So that's how a small group of them gathers at a clearing in the forest where Echo and apparently Murphy have stacked up some wood to form a funeral pyre.

Bellamy's body is wrapped in a gray sheet and laid out on top of it.

Everybody knows that Blodreina killed her brother because he came to take her mate. They had to tell the people something after all, and Indra thought it best not to mention the self-defense part.

Death is the only proper penalty for trying to take or harm Blodreina's mate. They had to set an example.

Clarke asked them not to tell anybody about the rape part. She doesn't want their people to see her as a victim.

She told her mother and her closest friends about it herself, on her own terms. It helped her to deal with it, or at least it was a start.

They told her not to go to the funeral and she didn't want to either, but she knew Octavia would go - even though she never confirmed it to Echo - and so she wanted to be there for her.

They are accompanied by Monty, Harper, Murphy - without Emori who has heard from Echo what Bellamy thought about female alphas and refused to come -, and Raven, who Clarke suspects is there only to support Echo, Miller and Indra who came for Octavia.

It's a quiet affair. 

Echo speaks a few words in trigedasleng before she lights the pyre.

Nobody else says anything, they just watch the flames eat away the last pieces of Bellamy Blake.

Clarke watches Octavia though. In the flickering lights of the fire she can see a storm brewing in the younger woman's eyes. Her posture is tense, her fists clenched at her sides. 

When everybody else is gone and the fire has almost gone out, leaving a pile of ash in its wake, Clarke tries to take her mate's hand, but Octavia jerks away from her touch.

Clarke tries not to be offended by that.

"O, come on. It's time to go home." She says softly.

"I - I can't. I need some time alone." Octavia croaks, holding back tears, before she vanishes into the woods.

So Clarke lets her go.

 

It's the middle of the night when she arrives at home. The house is empty, apart from the guards in front of it. Madi is with Abby and so Clarke decides to spend the night at her mother's house too.

 

 

Octavia doesn't come home the next day. 

And maybe she needs some time and space to deal with everything, and Clarke really tries to respect that.

But, after spending another night at her mother's place, Clarke's worry about Octavia has grown big enough that she can't just do nothing anymore.

On the second day of her mate's absence she packs a bag with some food supplies, takes Miller and a gun with her, and stomps off into the woods starting where she last saw her.

Her mate's scent has already faded there, but about an hour into their journey Clarke can smell a hint of her alpha. 

She follows the lead that gets stronger and stronger. Another two hours later they find Octavia on top of a mountain, sitting on the edge of a cliff.

There's a small fire place with what looks like the partly burned corpse of a rabbit hanging above it.  

Clarke tells Miller to take care of the fire and the pitiful meal, and then wait for them at the mountain foot to give them some privacy.

 

She knows Octavia is aware of her presence, but the alpha doesn't move. So she takes a seat besides her and looks at her mate who's still just looking forlorn into the distance.

The view is breathtaking, she'll give her that.

But patience has never been Clarke's strong suit, so after a few more minutes of silence, she starts talking.

"You know what he said wasn't true, right? You're not an abomination and female alphas aren't less in any way than male alphas."

Octavia continues staring straight ahead, but at least she answers - somewhat.

"When I hit puberty and presented as an alpha, my mother didn't want to hide me anymore. She said I wasn't worth the trouble. She was about to through me out. It was Bellamy who convinced her to let me stay. He argued that even if she turned me over, she would still be sentenced to death for having me. Back then I thought he said it to help me, but apparently he really just wanted to protect her."

"Octavia, I didn't know..." She feels sick at hearing how Octavia has been treated by her family.

"Do you know the total number of female alpha's in earth's current population?"

"No, but..." Clarke stammers, unsure of where Octavia is going with that.

"Six. Diyoza, Emori, Abby, Kahla kom Trikru, Stao kom Azgeda and me. Six, Clarke! That's not even one percent of the population! So how is being a female alpha not just a rare mutation, a freak of nature?!"

While listing the female alphas, Octavia has jumped up from her seat and started pacing around, now she is staring at Clarke with a pained expression.

"Stop it! You're not a freak!"

Clarke stands up too, approaching her carefully.

"Clarke, my own brother despised what I am so much that he wanted to kill me." Octavia's voice breaks, but Clarke is there and takes her into her arms before the first tears fall.

She rubs soothing circles onto her back, sending out calming pheromones, and whispers into her ear,

"I can't imagine how hard it must be to get hate for who you are from people who are your family and who are supposed to love you unconditionally. Especially if that hate comes from nothing but prejudice and archaic beliefs. You don't deserve that. Nobody does. There's nothing I can do to take the pain away. But please know that they were wrong. There's nothing wrong with who you are."

"I loved them so much. Why couldn't they love me?" Octavia whimpers, and Clarke's heart breaks for her.

"I know you loved your brother, and I'm sure he loved you too in some capacity. But he let the hate take over in the end, and you did what you had to do to protect yourself and me. He gave you no choice."

"I'm so sorry for what he did to you."

"It wasn't your fault. You heard him, he was obsessed with me long before we were mated. He would have tried to make me his no matter what." 

"I'm sorry I wasn’t there earlier to stop him." Octavia breaks their embrace to look Clarke in the eyes. "You were right, I should have punished him after he poisoned me and helped Gaia to put the flame into Madi. I should have held him captive at least. How could I have been so blind? Even after he poisoned me I wasn't able to see how much he hated me. I think I just didn't want to believe it."

Clarke grabs her shoulders gently, keeping eye contact with her mate.

"Hey, it's ok. I didn't see that coming either. And I feel like I can't say that often enough, so I'm going to say that until you believe me. Are you listening?"

"Yes." Octavia nods, looking at her intently.

"He was wrong about female alphas and he was wrong about you." Clarke states firmly.

She gently cups Octavia's face, brushing away the last set of tears from her cheeks.

"Octavia, apart from Lexa, you're the strongest alpha I know. You're a great leader to our people. You did your best during those years in the bunker, and in the end you kept more of them alive than deemed possible. You had to make tough decisions. You let people fear you and blame you and hate you, so that they wouldn't have to deal with their own guilt and with the whole dire situation. Only few people could have done what you did. And after everything I see how our people respect you and some even worship you. It's because they know they owe you their lives. They wouldn't have survived without you."

Clarke pauses to give Octavia some time to let her words sink in. She can see the change in O's eyes, the desperation gone, her confidence coming back, her posture already more elated.

"Our relationship started as a political deal. You forced me into it." Clarke continues.

"I'm sorry about that." 

"I know, and I forgive you."

"Thank you, but you shouldn't." Octavia sniffles.

"I forgive you because since then you have shown me every day that you respect me and my wishes. You took care of me during my heat the way I was ready for, and not how your alpha nature dictated you. You're really good with Madi. And you continue to lead our people with a strong heart and a strong mind. I'm proud to be your mate, okay?"

Octavia stares at her in wonder, like she can hardly believe what she's hearing. 

"You are?" O whispers.

"Yes. So, can we go home now, please? It's getting cold and dark, and Madi is waiting for you to tell her another one of your weirdly gruesome bedtime stories." 

"It's Greek mythology. They are the classics!"

"Whatever you say. Let's go home!"

"Yeah. Home."

The bright smile on Octavia's face is the most beautiful sight, and Clarke feels the sudden urge to kiss her. 

Before Clarke can act on her feelings though, Octavia has turned around and started to walk away.

She doesn't know if she's relieved or sorry about that missed chance.

 

 

 

 

 ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: (to make up for all the angst) tooth-rotting fluff and only consensual sex.


	7. Harvest Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm back with a new chapter. I know it's been a while, so thanks everybody for your patience!  
> Please know that I won't abandon this fic, even if updates might take a little bit longer.
> 
> As always kudos and comments are highly appreciated and they might even give me an extra boost to write faster. ;)

 

 

What Bellamy did to Clarke left her body bruised, but these bruises healed fast. It also left her soul battered and those wounds did not disappear as easily. In fact she is sure they left scars.

He took control of her, stripped her of her self-determination and self-confidence, he made her feel weak and helpless like no one had ever before.

Even though she's been hold captive and beaten and forced to do things she hadn't want to do more often than she can count, this has been different.

Clarke has always been good at compartmentalizing, so she gets through her days as if nothing happened. There are these moments though when she can’t keep the memories and the feelings that come along with them locked away. They come out of nowhere and make it hard for her to breathe.

Every time Octavia is near her when that happens, she picks up on Clarke's distress quickly and interrupts whatever meeting they are in, excusing them both. With just her alpha around Clarke lets the panic wash over her. She allows herself to cry, comforted by her alpha's gentle embrace. She always feels better afterwards and the time between attacks gets longer.

The first few weeks after the incident she also constantly struggles with the urge to flee every time another alpha looks at her a little bit longer.

She avoids being alone, so most of the time she is either with her mother, her mate or one of her close friends. Furthermore Octavia makes sure that she is always accompanied by two of her personal guards, one of them is almost always Miller who Clarke trusts unexceptionally, the other one another beta.

 

She knows she has to talk to someone about her trauma, but talking about it is difficult.

She doesn't want to burden Octavia with it more than she already does. Furthermore she knows Octavia is anything but fine after having to kill her brother.

Her mother tries her best to be supportive, but she always feels Abby's underlying rage when she only as much as hints at what Bellamy did. She is sure if it was possible Abby would resurrect Bellamy, only to kill him herself.

Surprisingly enough Clarke finds a confidant in Murphy of all people. The male omega heard about what had happened from Echo and offered her a listening ear.

As it turns out Murphy understands intimately what she is going through, because he has been a victim of rape himself.

Back on the Ark Pike had felt the need to punish Murphy for his constant disobedience in class with more than words and extra homework.

If Clarke hadn't already hated Pike with all her heart, she would have hated him after hearing what he did to her friend.

Sharing their experiences and talking about their feelings seems to help Murphy as much as Clarke.

Letting it all out felt good, like a burden is lifted from her chest, like she can breathe more freely.

So, about a month after the incident, Clarke almost feels like herself again.

 

The peaceful, but busy life in their new home also helps Clarke to move on.

She has taken the role of Blodreina's second in command, and more often than not they share the leadership role.

People refer to her as Wanheda or as Reinatu - as in ‘their second queen’, which she actually prefers. She doesn’t want to be the commander of death anymore, she wants to be a leader for preserving life, not ending it.

 

Octavia has changed too since the days in the bunker.

Although she keeps a strict reign, still too afraid of things going awfully wrong if she loosens control over the about one thousand souls she has to take care off, she leads her people with more benevolence now. She got softer, and while the people still respect her, they seem to have lost their fear of her.

Clarke thinks all in all that is a good thing, not only for the people but also for Octavia who gets to be more like herself again.

 

The events of that fateful day when Bellamy raped Clarke and Octavia killed him are still lying heavy on Octavia’s soul though.

As her mate Clarke can feel her grief, especially when they are alone at night in their bed.

One night Clarke wakes up to Octavia's quiet sobs. She scoots closer and touches her mate's arm softly. When Octavia apologizes for her weakness, Clarke tells her that it is ok to be sad about her brother's death. She understands that Octavia isn't grieving for the rapist Bellamy became in the end, but for her brother who she grew up with and who had been her only family for so long.

Octavia cries herself to sleep in Clarke's arms that night. So Clarke has made a habit of cuddling up to Octavia as close as possible and sending out soothing pheromones every night that follows. Octavia's answering scent is strong but soft and always makes Clarke feel safe.

They fall into a routine that lets them both sleep better at night. With the usual interval of three, sometimes even four months between their heats or ruts, they don't have to deal with these kind of urges during the months of grieving and healing.

 

 

Octavia also spends more time with Madi. Her initial insecurity about how to treat a five years old child is soon gone.

They both crave activity, so every time an especially long, boring meeting comes to an end, Octavia takes Madi out for an excursion into the woods or to the nearby lake.

Madi knows the territory around the village as well as Clarke, but was never allowed to go too far, so now Octavia and Madi have new grounds to explore.

She trusts Octavia to take care of Madi, still she's glad that they are never away for too long.

When they come back, they are both beaming with joy and excitement every time, and Madi babbles happily about all the things they’ve done and the animals and plants they’ve seen.

Octavia also looks happier and freer when she is around the lively child. It seems like the alpha is slowly but surely getting over Bellamy’s death and the insecurities that he infused her with.

 

Madi adores Octavia, and Clarke can see that Octavia adores her daughter too, and that makes her incredibly happy.

Although Clarke’s dearest wish is and will always be that Lexa was with them and would see their daughter grow up, she knows she has to face reality. And in this reality Madi doesn’t have to grow up with Clarke as her only parent anymore, Octavia is a part of their family too now.

It also takes away Clarke’s greatest worry, namely that something happens to her and then Madi would be completely alone. But now - much to Clarke’s relief - her daughter has so many people who would take care of her, she has a family with Abby and Octavia, and many good friends who would do anything for her.

 

 

One evening Clarke comes home and finds Octavia and Madi running around the house, playing tag. There’s giggling and squealing and growling. It sounds like they are having fun.

When she enters the living room her squealing daughter runs into her, Octavia close behind. Both of their faces are painted on with what looks like war paint in brown and black.

“Quick, mommy, you have to pick me up so that I’m high in the tree and O can’t reach me!” Her daughter holds her hands out to Clarke impatiently. So Clarke scoops her up, supporting Madi with her arm while the girl clings to her, and Octavia comes to an abrupt stop in front of them.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Octavia protests and actually pouts a little bit.

"What's going on here?" Clarke asks, barely holding back her laughter.

"We are wild animals, mommy!" Madi shouts excitedly.

"Oh? What kind of animals?"

"I'm a pauna and O is a mountain lion!"

She looks quizzically at Octavia. Madi has never seen one of those animals while they've lived in the valley. Clarke is pretty sure those animals died out when Praimfaya hit.

"I told her about the animals that used to live on earth." Octavia explains, averting her eyes shyly when Clarke regards her with a soft gaze.

Before she can tell her mate how much she likes that, her daughter gushes, "Did you know, mom, that paunas were almost as smart as humans, but much bigger and stronger?"

"Really?" She humors the eager girl.

"Yeah, and people put them in cages, but after the world was nearly destroyed for the first time, they got even stronger and they fought back!"

"And see, that's how they roared!" Madi puffs her chest out and drums her little fists against it while roaring as loud as she can.

Clarke tries to look impressed, but she can’t hold back her laughter, and soon Madi and Octavia join in.

She kisses her daughter’s belly, earning another fit of giggles from the girl. When Madi starts to squirm in her arms, she sets her back on the ground.

'Ok, little pauna, go wash your hands and face, it's time for dinner. You too, mountain lion." She slaps Octavia lightly on the shoulder who growls playfully in return, before taking Madi’s hand and walking with her to the bathroom.

 

Clarke prepares the fish that Octavia caught earlier this day, together with some potatoes that she got from Monty.

While they sit together, eating their dinner, they talk about their day.

Clarke tells Octavia about her talk with Otak who Octavia appointed as head of the hunters.

“So Otak and his hunters did kind of a census of the animal population in the valley, and he came to the conclusion that it is scarce and that hunting must be regulated and limited to prevent extinction.”

“Ok. Does he have a list of all the animals they found?” Octavia mumbles around the food in her mouth.

“Yes, plus a list with his estimation of the actual number of animals. He’ll give it to you tomorrow.”

“Hmm.”

“Monty came by to bring me the potatoes. He heard the conversation I had with Otak and he might have a solution to our meat or better protein problem.”

“Algae again?” Octavia looks disgusted at the thought.

“No. Monty has suggested we eat insects instead. Apparently maggots, for example, have high protein content and would be easy to cultivate.” Clarke recounts.

To her surprise, Octavia only shrugs. "I've eaten worse."

Clarke expected to have to work harder to convince her, she was already prepared for a longer discussion, but she’s glad that doesn’t seem to be necessary.  

“Maggots it is then." She concludes, satisfied with the outcome.

“But I don’t want to eat maggots, mom!” Madi chimes in.

 

 

 ~

 

 

They’ve been living in the last place on earth that has not been destroyed by radiation for over three months and everything turned out better than expected.

Indra as the general in charge of the peacekeepers has done a great job at training them in non-lethal weaponry and hand-to-hand combat. If anybody falls out of line or if there are fights between people, the peacekeepers almost always manage to defuse the situation.

Octavia has appointed Miller as head of her personal guard. It’s only a small group of hand-picked warriors. They follow not only Octavia around but also Clarke and Madi. Thankfully they are discreet about it and stay back when more privacy is needed. Clarke appreciates their presence.

 

 

It amazes Clarke every day what Wonkru has achieved in only a few months.

Cultivating maggots really has been easy. Soon they have enough cultures to ensure a healthy protein intake for everyone.

As it turns out, when roasted and spiced with different herbs, maggots actually taste good. Somebody had the idea to grind them, form the maggot mash into dumplings and cook them with vegetables.

It becomes Madi’s favorite dish.

 

Monty and Fron have also been able to grow some crops and corn. And a few weeks after the heat of the summer is over, the farmers bring in a surprisingly good harvest.

Clarke doesn’t know who comes up with the idea, but as soon as it spreads, everybody is overly enthusiastic about it. So it’s decided quickly. They are going to have a harvest festival to celebrate their first harvested crops and fruits as well as their survival in general.

Against all odds, Wonkru is thriving.

 

 

It takes them only a few days to prepare everything for the festival.

They’ve build some fire pits in the middle of the market place, and on the edges there are various stalls that offer all kind of foods.

There’s bread, roasted corncobs, hot potatoes, different fruits, maggot dumplings, and even a deer on a grill.

Monty somehow has managed to brew beer as well as fruit schnaps that actually tastes amazing. A vast improvement compared to his previous moonshine.

Some musically gifted people have build instruments, mostly different sized drums, but also a cornet and a few weird metal instruments that sound like bells.

The music they play is loud and lively and soon many people are dancing.

 

Even Raven took the time off from her various projects to attend the festival.

Raven has the biggest workload of all. Among other things she's working simultaneously on constructing solar panels as well as windmills, both meant to supply them with electricity. The windmills will also be used to grind the crops of course.

To establish electricity in the village they need lots of copper wires though. They need other metal pieces and tech too for Raven's seemingly limitless ideas.

So Shaw and Emori lead a scavenger crew that makes tours into space, getting what Raven needs by dismantling the Ark's ring piece by piece.

Raven's most prestigious project though is a watering system that's supposed to bring a constant flow of water to all the houses, guiding it down from the mountain in aqueducts. With the information from the scouts and hunters Clarke and Raven have drawn up plans where the territory is best suited to house the long pipe lines.

It's not determined yet which material they are going to use for the aqueducts. With the right tools and some of Diyoza's machinery they could probably carve them directly out of the stone higher up the mountain. Further down they either have to transport and rearrange big stones and then carve these or they could use wooden aqueducts along the line.

It’s hard for almost everyone to keep up with Raven, and Clarke is no exception. She greatly admires her brilliant friend.

 

She also thinks Raven pushes herself too hard and works too much, so she is glad to see the beta amongst the people who stand at the side of the inner circle of the market place where the dancing takes place.

As she approaches Raven, Clarke notices that the mechanic looks longingly to where Echo is drinking fruit schnaps and laughing with Emori and Murphy.

"You should tell her how you feel."

Raven startles slightly, before answering,

"What? I don't know what you're talking about...”

Clarke looks at her, challenging her to further deny it, but Raven concedes quickly, knowing it's to no avail.

“Fine...” She huffs, “I like her. But she just lost her mate."

"It's been three months and I don't think after everything Bellamy said before he died, she owes him anything - let alone to stay unmated for the rest of her life." Clarke points out.

"I don't even know if she would consider being with a female beta like me. She's an omega! I've never been with an omega before. What if I can't satisfy her needs? What if she isn't into vaginas?"

Raven looks more and more distressed, so Clarke steps closer and tries to calm her friend down.

"Well, most importantly I think she likes you too. And secondly, the Raven Reyes I know wouldn't let a body part - or the missing of one - stand in her way. She would find a solution or build one.”

She can see the moment when Raven realizes what she is talking about, because a smirk appears on the mechanic's face.

At that Clarke remembers that Octavia's rut is coming up soon, and well, she made a promise to her mate during her last rut.

“Oh, speaking of which... ahem do you think you can make a strap on for me, too?"

Raven quirks her eye brow in amusement. "Really? Is our great alpha leader a bottom in the bedroom?"

"That information is strictly classified. Can you do it or not?"

"Of course I can. What size are we talking about?"

"Six inches?"

"Jesus, Clarke. Are you sure?"

"Just get it done."

"As you wish, oh mighty Wanheda." Raven grins and does a little mock bow.

"Shut up!" Clarke huffs, tries to keep a straight face, but fails.

Raven's expression gets more serious again as she seems to analyze Clarke. It makes Clarke self-conscious.

"You know, maybe you should follow your own advice." Raven suggests with a knowing smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell her you like her."

 

~

 

As the night goes on, Raven's words echo in Clarke's mind.

She likes Octavia, maybe, probably even more than that. She has for a while now.

In the aftermath of Bellamy's assault, these feelings took a back seat, but after a few weeks they have been front and center again.

Clarke is not ready to analyze her feelings for Octavia completely, but at least she is ready to acknowledge them.

She expected to feel guilty about having feelings for someone other than Lexa, but she didn't. She knows Lexa would have wanted her to find love again.

The problem is that it scares her to let somebody in again.

 

Standing near the stall that serves the fruit schnaps - she might have drunk one or two -, Clarke watches her alpha.

In the middle of the market place, between the fire pits and other dancers, Octavia is dancing with Madi to the beat of the drums.

Octavia wears no weapons tonight - at least none that are visible, her hair is loose, apart from a thin braid on her right side that frames her face. 

She also wears almost no armor, only some leather pads sewn into her festive gown. Underneath is a silky looking light gray shirt, and of course her trademark black leather pants.

For this special occasion Clarke wears a blue dress which she found in her house a few years ago and which must have belonged to the former inhabitants from the Shallow Valley Clan.

Madi and Octavia hold hands and jump in circles and are generally goofy and exuberant. Clarke's heart warms at the sight of her daughter laughing and having fun.

Octavia spins the girl around, making her laugh so much that she almost topples over. Before she falls though, Octavia scoops her up in her arms and without missing a beat swirls them both around.

Madi squeals in joy, and Octavia laughs with her.

She hasn't seen Octavia so carefree ever - except maybe that one time when they have just landed on earth and everything has been wonderful and overwhelmingly new and Octavia decided to jump half naked into the river.

Clarke knows Octavia relishes this celebration as much as or even more than everybody else.

She could see it clearly in the way Blodreina addressed her people earlier this evening, when she opened the festival.

This is it, this is why they did what they did. This is what they fought for and died for. This is what Octavia gave a part of her soul for.

Their people are safe and happy and well-fed. They are thriving, building up a society. It's marvelous. It's more than they dared to dream about after Praimfaya.

Octavia is beaming at her when she catches Clarke's eyes after putting Madi down again.

In the flickering, warm light of the fire pits, a radiant smile on her lips, her chin long hair slightly disheveled, her eyes practically sparkling, Octavia looks almost ethereal, like out of this world beautiful.

At the sight of her mate all doubts are gone, and suddenly Clarke doesn't even know why she held herself back anymore.

Her feet set in motion seemingly of their own volition as she approaches Octavia.

Clarke barely notices that Madi is lifted up in Murphy's arms and the pair is swept away in the sea of dancers.

Octavia stands alone and holds Clarke's gaze, the warm smile never leaving her face.

Suddenly they are standing directly in front of each other. They are so close that Clarke can see the flecks of gold in Octavia's green eyes.

The alpha looks at her uncertainly, almost shyly. 

"Clarke?" Octavia whispers and she can only hear her because she's so close.

Throwing all caution to the wind, Clarke takes Octavia's face into her hands and kisses her. It's soft and sweet at first, but then Octavia seems to have overcome her initial surprise as she presses her mouth more firmly against Clarke's.

She puts her hands on Octavia's waist and pulls her body closer until there's no room between them. A small gasp escapes the alpha's mouth when their bodies touch.

Seizing the opportunity Clarke brushes her tongue over Octavia's lower lip before pushing it into her mouth. They both moan at the first touch of their tongues. 

Their kiss grows hungry, and Clarke feels insatiable, like she can't get enough of Octavia.

She vaguely remembers that they are in a public place though, so before things get more heated she breaks the kiss.

Octavia stares at her unbelievingly with wide eyes and kiss-swollen lips, chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath.

And Clarke just wants to kiss her again, but suddenly someone grabs her hand and pulls her away. 

When her mind catches up with what is happening, she finds herself in the middle of a line of dancers, holding hands and circling around the fire pits.

She throws a longing look towards Octavia, only to see that the alpha has been included into the line of moving bodies too.

Not given much of a choice, they both join the dancers and enjoy the party.

 

It's already after midnight when Clarke asks Abby to take Madi home. The girl protests of course, although she already fell asleep twice in her mother's arms.

Abby offers her granddaughter a sleepover which Madi happily accepts.

"Madi and I are going to be fine. Have fun tonight."

Abby winks at her before she leaves, and Clarke tries and fails not to blush.

 

She is determined not to waste the opportunity that comes with having the house all to themselves. So like a woman on a mission, Clarke searches the market place for her mate.

She finds her talking to Indra in front of the stall with the corncobs.

"Please, excuse us." Is all she says, before she takes Octavia's hand and pulls her away. 

"Ahem, Clarke? What...?"

"Madi stays with Abby for the night." 

This seems to be enough of an explanation for Octavia, because she lets Clarke drag her home without resistance.

 

~ 

 

As soon as their bedroom door is closed behind them, Clarke pushes Octavia up against it, and starts lavishing the younger woman's neck with open mouth kisses. 

She feels Octavia's throat bob under her lips, before the alpha squeaks,

"Clarke, what are you doing?"

She stops her lustful attack on the brunette's skin and raises her head to look Octavia into the eye.

"I want to have sex with you. I want to have sex with you when I'm not in heat and you're not in rut, when we don't have to be Blodreina and Wanheda. I want to have sex with you when we are just Clarke and Octavia. Do you want that too?" She asks a little breathlessly but with clear determination in her voice.

She watches Octavia's expression go from confusion to disbelief and then settle on a mix of awe and cautious happiness.

She thinks her alpha understands what she means, that she wants to have sex for no other reason than because she likes her. A concept that is so normal and has yet been so foreign to them up until now.

"Yes, I do." Octavia answers almost reverently.

For the first time it's Octavia who initiates a kiss, her lips are soft and firm against Clarke's mouth and this time it feels different, it feels like Octavia doesn't hold back anymore. She kisses her deliberately and thoroughly, like she wants to savor every inch of her lips and mouth, and Clarke can't help the moans that escape her throat.

Octavia's hands seem to be everywhere at once and suddenly Clarke's dress pools around her legs on the floor. She doesn't wear bindings tonight, instead one of her old bras that somehow has survived all the time since she fell from the sky. 

The alpha breaks the kiss and leans back to look down at Clarke's breasts, apparently not having expected the flimsy bra.

Clarke hears O's breath hitch at the sight and her pupils grow impossibly large. Octavia cups her breasts through the silky fabric, before diving down and taking a nipple into her mouth.

"Fuck, O." Clarke moans loudly.

Her whole body is trembling when Octavia pushes the bra up and quickly reconnects her mouth with her breast, sucking on the erect nipple while twirling its twin between her fingers.

Octavia's other hand must have found the clasp, because the bra disappears and her breast are now completely available for O's worshipping.

And worshipping she does, so good that Clarke feels herself getting impossibly wet, her panties already drenched, the skin between her thighs slick with her juices.

With the heat coiling in her stomach, she thinks she might be able to come just from that, but she wants more. She wants to feel her alpha inside of her. So she grasps Octavia's hair and pulls her back from her chest.

The brunette growls a little bit in protest which makes Clarke laugh.

"What?" Octavia asks breathlessly, a smirk on her face when she looks up to Clarke's eyes.  "You have magnificent breasts, Clarke. Have I told you, how much I love your boobs?"

"No, but you showed me, baby, and it's so good, but I need more..." Clarke says huskily, reaching down to Octavia's crotch where she can feel Octavia's hard cock through the fabric of her pants.

Her alpha growls again, louder this time and definitely not in protest.

Before she knows it, Octavia has pushed her back to their bed, and when her knees hit the foot of the bed, she's falling backwards, landing on the soft mattress. 

She scrambles upwards till her head reaches the pillows while Octavia kneels on the bed.

"Take your clothes off." Clarke demands, her voice trembling with need, and Octavia obliges eagerly, shucking off her festive garment, her bindings, her pants, everything, till she's kneeling naked in front of Clarke.

Once again Clarke marvels at the huge size of Octavia's erected cock, but this time there's no fear, only lustful anticipation at the thought of taking it.

She plays with the hem of her panties, biting her lip suggestively, till O gets the hint and leans forward. The alpha tugs the panties down her legs and over Clarke's feet, and then holds them in her hand like a prize. 

Clarke can clearly see when Octavia feels the wetness of the garment and smells the scent of her arousal, because the alpha's whole body goes rigid, her dick twitches and her breathing comes out in short, sharp puffs.

Octavia is ready to pounce. And yet she doesn't, she just kneels between Clarke's legs and waits, her whole body shivering slightly.

Clarke feels as impatient as Octavia looks, so she opens her legs further inviting Octavia in, and the alpha takes her offer. 

The moment their naked bodies are flush, they both moan loudly at the sensation.

Clarke thought she would never feel so good with another body on top of her again after Lexa, but she's glad she was wrong.

She kisses Octavia fiercely, pouring all her emotions into the kiss, grief, gratefulness, happiness, passion, love.

She feels Octavia moving her hips only a little, sliding her strained member through Clarke's folds, wetting it with her juices. 

She gasps into the kiss when it hits her clit just right. She needs her alpha now.

Looking into Octavia's eyes, Clarke reaches down, grabs the hard cock and directs it to her entrance.

A small nod is enough to assure Octavia that she wants this too as O is looking at her questioningly and a little bit unsure.

They lock eyes as Octavia sinks her big cock inside of her slowly, giving her time to adjust. 

Then Octavia pushes forward with a strong but careful thrust, sinking half her dick into her, groaning loudly.

Clarke moans at the feeling, ready for more. Octavia seems to get the hint, because she pulls out to the tip, before pushing back in. Repeating this motion, Octavia sinks deeper inside of her with every thrust, and after only a few more thrusts the alpha is bottoming out.

"Fuck, Clarke, you feel so good around me." Octavia pants, propped up on her arms on either side of Clarke's head, her muscles rippling.

They stare at each other, breathing the same air, just feeling their connection.

Clarke feels her walls stretch and quiver around her alpha's big girth, getting accustomed to it. The feeling of Octavia fully seated inside of her sends jolts of hot pleasure through her body.

Clarke then reaches up and gently cups Octavia's face, rubbing her thumb across her cheek. The alpha takes this as a sign to continue, so she sets a gentle pace, while never averting her gaze from Clarke's eyes, searching for any sign of discomfort.

There is none, Clarke feels anything but uncomfortable. She meets Octavia's every thrust, their slow, gentle rhythm building up her arousal deliciously slow.

They are not only having sex, they are making love, and from the look on Octavia's face her mate knows that and feels that too.

Their eye contact is only interrupted by soft and delicate kisses. Octavia's tongue caressing her mouth as gently and purposefully as her dick caresses every inch of her womanhood.

Soon Clarke feels ready to explode from pleasure. She needs more, needs it faster, harder, so she digs her fingers into Octavia's back and wraps her legs around Octavia's waist, urging her on.

Immediately she feels her alpha's thrust getting stronger and faster. It seems like with the new angle, Octavia penetrates her deeper with each thrust, her breathing becoming erratic.

With one last powerful thrust the alpha comes, spilling her seed into Clarke's channel.

Clarke follows close behind. Her orgasm washes over her in a hot, white wave of pleasure, causing her body to seize in ecstasy and her lungs to push out her breath in a garbled scream.

Reveling in the waves of her aftershocks, Clarke captures her mate’s lips in a sloppy kiss.

They both have difficulties to catch their breath, panting into each other's mouths while Octavia leans her forehead against Clarke's.

When O's dick is soft enough, she pulls out gently, but before she can get away from Clarke, the omega wraps her arms around her, silently asking her to stay.

So Octavia cuddles into Clarke's embrace, her nose buried into her shoulder, their bodies intertwined.

Clarke feels her mate's body relax. And as Octavia sighs contently, Clarke kisses her forehead lovingly.

While drifting off to sleep, Clarke muses about how this seemingly tame and vanilla love making has been the most enjoyable and intimate sex they've had so far.

She can't wait for more.

 

 

 

 ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Is it time for O's rut again? I think so. ;)


	8. In Rut - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for your kudos and comments! I love you all!
> 
> This chapter is a little bit shorter than the ones before, because it's really only the first half of the chapter that I have planned. I didn't want to keep you waiting for another week though, so I decided to post this anyway. The second half is not finished yet, but I have a huge part of it written already, so there's a good chance that I'll be able to post it next weekend. Fingers crossed. ;)

 

 

She has woken up in Octavia’s arms plenty of times before, but this morning is different.

This morning they are both naked, and Clarke feels Octavia’s bare skin against her own where their bodies touch. The memories of last night are still fresh in her mind, and there’s still a tingling feeling in her core and a pleasant soreness between her legs.

Clarke lies on her side with Octavia spooning her from behind - like most of the time, but there’s a new familiarity between them, almost as if their bodies have a mind of their own and they are recognizing each other.

When Octavia begins to stir behind her and the alpha’s hand travels from Clarke’s waist to her breast, cupping it firmly, albeit her half asleep state, Clarke feels her arousal rise again.

She pushes back into Octavia’s front, moaning softly when her ass comes in contact with her mate’s big member. Suddenly the even breaths of her lover against her neck stop, and she knows Octavia is fully awake now. She wiggles her ass a little bit further back which seems to wake up the alpha’s cock as well, because it’s half-hard in seconds.

The breath she’s been holding leaves Octavia’s lungs in one drawn-out moan, accompanied by what sounds like Clarke’s name.

Clarke smiles when she feels soft kisses on her neck and Octavia’s hand gently massaging her breast. Overcome with the need to kiss her mate, Clarke tilts her head back and turns it to the side, searching for her alpha’s lips. Octavia doesn’t leave her waiting, she lifts her head from the pillow and leans forward till their mouths align.

The angle is a little bit awkward, but they make it work, and soon the gentle, lazy touch of lips and tongues grows rougher and more urgent.

The feeling of Octavia’s now completely hard-on pressing against her back and Octavia’s fingers playing with her sensitive nipple causes wetness pooling between her legs, and Clarke moans into their kiss.

Her moan is thankfully stifled by Octavia’s mouth, because suddenly there is a loud thud coming from their front door indicating it’s been pushed close, followed by Abby hollering from somewhere in their living room, “Clarke? Octavia? Are you awake? Your daughter wants to have breakfast with you!”

Octavia jerks away from her so fast that she almost falls out off the bed. Clarke would have laughed about her mate’s half terrified, half flustered expression if she hadn’t felt her own embarrassment creeping up on her.

“Fuck, how late is it? Have we slept in?” She whispers to Octavia, before shouting “We’ll be there in a second!” through the closed bedroom door. 

Octavia is already getting up and starting to dress as Clarke presses her face into the cushion, groaning in frustration about the arousal that still simmers in her core and will remain unsatisfied now.

“Clarke, your mother is here! Get dressed!” Octavia hisses while slipping into her pants.

 

 

A little later they both enter the kitchen where Abby prepares breakfast for them all. They are greeted by Abby’s amused look and Madi’s excited squeal, the girl jumping into her mother’s arms as soon as she spots them.

“Hey little pauna, did you sleep well at grandma’s?”

“Yeah, mommy. Did you have a good adult time with O?”

“W-What?” Clarke stutters, caught off guard.

“Gramma said you needed some time for adults only.” Madi explains, though judging by the tilt of her head and her furrowed brow, she doesn’t understand her mother’s confusion.

“Oh, yeah, we - we had a good time.” Clearing her throat she tries to change the topic, “So, what’s for breakfast?”

“Sweet maggot mash with apple slices!” Madi cheers.

“Great, I’m starving.” Octavia proclaims while plopping down on a chair at the kitchen table.

Abby serves her a plate, watching as Octavia digs in immediately.

“Looks like you have worked up an appetite last night.”

Octavia almost chokes on an apple slice, her face turning red in the process. To help her cough up the wayward piece from her windpipe and prevent her from suffocating Clarke hits her mate’s upper back quite vigorously.

“Mom!” She admonishes her mother, shooting Abby an exasperated look, “Was that really necessary?”

“No, but it was fun. You should have seen her face.” Abby laughs.

“I can’t believe you!” Clarke grumbles.

Octavia has finally managed to clear her airways. Still trying to get her breathing under control, the alpha croaks, “It’s ok, Clarke. Will you be joining us for breakfast, Abby?”

“No, I’m sorry, but I have to get an early start at the clinic today. Those of Diyoza’s crew that were sick are coming in for their checkups. It’s going to be a busy day.”

“Oh ok, bye, mom.”

“Yeah, bye, Abby, and thanks for looking after Madi last night and for making us breakfast.” Octavia adds.

“You’re welcome. Bye, girls.”

Abby kisses her granddaughter on the forehead who has her mouth too full to say goodbye properly, before she leaves.

 

 

Abby has been able to heal all of the prisoners, which they were grateful for of course, but no one was more grateful than Charmaine Diyoza - even though she hasn’t been ill. The leader of the prison crew has been seen around the clinic quite often, apparently supporting her men. She has also been seen around Abby outside of the clinic some times, the two alphas looking friendly and comfortable with each other, and Clarke doesn’t even want to think about the possible implications.

About a week before the harvest festival Diyoza’s men were released from confinement for good. Till then they were held captive at night, and during the day they helped building up the village, each of them accompanied by peacekeepers to make sure they stayed in line. Over time they had proven that they were no longer a threat and that they were willing to be valuable members of their society. So Octavia pardoned them. The peacekeepers still keep an eye on them, but officially they are no longer prisoners.

 

The church where they were held captive was repurposed to serve as a public building. All official meetings take place there now, something that Clarke insisted on, because she was tired of having people trudging through her living room every day.

 

Since Indra became head of the peacekeepers, Cooper took her place as Octavia’s right hand woman. She coordinates Blodreina’s schedule and arranges meetings. Sometimes she also does that for Clarke - quite efficiently, Clarke has to admit. And even though Clarke didn’t like her at first, she can appreciate the general’s professionalism and organizing skills. All in all they have come to tolerate and respect each other.

 

 

~

 

 

For the next two weeks it feels like they are in their honeymoon phase. Clarke and Octavia can’t keep their hands of each other. Since the harvest festival their relationship has reached another level, and their mating bond becomes stronger each day.

Apart from the physical aspect of their relationship they also have a deeper understanding about each other. Sometimes Clarke feels Octavia’s emotions so strongly as if they were her own.

 

So, it’s not surprising to her that she recognizes Octavia’s rut before her alpha does.

She wakes up alone, which is not a rare occurrence, because Octavia often has a full schedule that requires her to start her day early. She still hates waking up without the warmth of her mate beside her. As usual she sniffs into Octavia’s pillow then, trying to get a hint of the alpha’s scent to give her some vigor for the day.

This morning though, her alpha’s scent is different, more pronounced, spicier, and also more alluring, causing Clarke’s omega to stir.

She knows what that means almost instantly.

In record time she is dressed and out of their house in search for her mate.

 

As expected Clarke finds her alpha in the governmental building, formerly the church. What she didn’t expect though was seeing Niylah standing a little bit too close to Blodreina to be acceptable for a subject. The two don’t seem to have noticed Clarke’s entrance. While Clarke approaches them, Niylah leans closer and even touches Octavia’s arm. The omega says something to Octavia that makes her blush a little bit, but Clarke can’t hear it, Niylah’s voice too low to understand.

The whole scene makes Clarke’s blood boil. How dare she flirt with a mated alpha, with HER alpha! She barely suppresses a growl. Well, it seems like she wasn’t successful in holding it back, because she’s still only halfway there when both women turn their heads into her direction.

Upon seeing her, Niylah almost jumps away from Octavia. Clarke would find it comical if she didn’t seethe with anger.

She closes in on them till she’s standing only a few feet away, staring down Niylah who has the decency to look away and even bow down a little bit.

“Niylah,” her voice is cold and dangerously calm, and with satisfaction she notices Niylah wince at the harsh sound of her name, “I’d like to speak with my mate - alone.”

“Of course, Wanheda.”

“It’s Reinatu now.”

“I’m sorry, Reinatu. I’m going to be outside and wait for the other merchants, Blodreina.” Niylah bows down before them, then hurries away, her eyes firmly on the ground.

 

When Clarke directs her attention to Octavia, she sees that the alpha is staring at her with wide eyes and an open mouth.

Before the brunette can say anything, Clarke launches forward and kisses her mate fiercely, her tongue plundering her mouth, her hands gripping Octavia’s waist possessively.

Leaving Octavia gasping for air, she starts to trail open mouth kisses down Octavia’s throat. As she does, she pays special attention to her mating bite, lavishing it with broad licks till her alpha whimpers and shivers. The sudden need to claim what’s hers again makes her burry her teeth into the same spot. She hardly breaks the skin, but is deeply satisfied when her alpha’s essence fills her mouth.

“Clarke!” Octavia cries out hoarsely, her hands clasping Clarke’s head while the omega sucks on her scent gland.

Her hunger sated for now, Clarke resumes licking over the fresh wounds.

“Clarke… what?” Octavia stutters in between moans, “What is… is going on?”

“Haven’t you noticed, baby? Your scent has changed, your rut is about to begin.” Clarke purrs against the alpha’s skin.

“No… I mean, I felt a little more agitated when I woke up this morning, but…” She gasps when Clarke scratches her teeth over the bite mark again. “…sexually I still felt so sated from last night that I haven’t even…” Her words end in another surprised gasp as Clarke unbuttons Octavia’s fly, pulls the zipper down and palms her bulge through her underwear.

“Don’t worry baby, I’ll take care of it.” Clarke whispers seductively into Octavia’s ear, smiling when she sees the goosebumps rising on the brunette’s neck, before she concentrates on pulling down Octavia’s leather pants and underwear. Her mouth is watering at the delicious sight of the alpha’s chiseled abs and the v of her lower stomach.

As soon as Octavia’s lower half is completely bare before her, Clarke drops to her knees and admires the alpha’s huge cock while sucking her lower lip in. A quick glance up into Octavia’s almost black eyes gives her all the incentive she needs to grasp the base of her cock with her hands and take the big head into her mouth without preamble.

“Clarke”, Octavia’s strangled moans fill the air around them.

Sucking the cockhead, Clarke moves her palm up and down the smooth, silky shaft, and with every stroke the member grows bigger and harder.

Clarke moans at the first taste of precum that drips onto her tongue, it’s musky but sweet, and she instantly craves more.

Octavia grips the armrests of the throne behind her so tight that her knuckles turn white and her whole body is trembling. Clarke knows it won’t take long, if she keeps this up, but she wants to drag this out, so she pops Octavia’s dick from her mouth and places a soft kiss to the alpha’s abs.

Kissing slowly down again, over her pubis, then onto the base of her cock, she feels Octavia taking in deep, fast breaths while still clinging to the armrests.

She digs her nails into Octavia’s thighs to hold her in place as she traces her tongue along the long shaft, before reaching the thick head and licking across the slit. This earns her another moan from her alpha who thrusts her hips forward slightly.

“You like that, huh? Do you want me to take your big cock into my mouth again, baby?” Clarke teases.

“Yes, I…” Octavia’s words fade into a groan when Clarke seals her lips around the head, her tongue continuing to move along the slit.

She feels the alpha’s hands grasping her hair and holding her close as she starts sucking Octavia’s cock in earnest.

“Fuck.” Octavia grunts loudly.

Running her palms up and down the soft flesh, Clarke takes a short break to catch her breath.

“I love it when you are so loud for me.”

“Clarke, there are probably people outside, waiting for me… and Copper might come back anytime too.”

“I don’t care. Let them hear how much pleasure I give to you. Let them hear who is your one and only mate. Say my name, baby!”

Egged on by the thought of Niylah hearing Octavia scream her name, Clarke takes Octavia’s dick back into her mouth. She sucks it vigorously, her tongue curling and uncurling around the underside of the shaft. With every bob of her head she takes the alpha’s pulsing cock deeper and deeper into the wet heat of her mouth.

Octavia’s grip on her scalp is getting tighter as she rocks her hips forward, fucking Clarke’s mouth till the blonde’s nose is pressed against her lower abs. Thrusting her whole length into the omega’s throat, she comes with a loud scream.

“Fuck, Clarke!”

Clarke swallows her alpha’s cum eagerly, satisfied with Octavia’s outburst. Meanwhile her own arousal is skyrocketing, causing a surge of wetness between her legs.

As soon as the last spurts of cum subside, Clarke stands up and pushes Octavia back onto the throne.

The alpha is still in a post-orgasmic daze, so she complies easily and welcomes Clarke into her lap as the omega straddles her.

Clarke smashes their lips together in a heated kiss. She is sure Octavia can taste her own cum in her mouth. 

She needs her relief so bad, so she rocks her hips forward, rubbing her still clothed pussy against Octavia’s cock. The pleasurable friction causes the member to grow hard again, giving Clarke more leverage. Satisfying her mate with her mouth has aroused her so much already that it doesn’t take long for her to come. Panting into Octavia’s ear, she lets the waves of her orgasm wash over her.

Her orgasmic high is interrupted by a small commotion outside, and she realizes that their little tryst probably took too long.

With a deep sigh of regret, she dismounts from Octavia’s lap, before she pulls her mate out of her seat too. Giving the still hard cock one last kiss, she bends down to retrieve Octavia’s underwear and pants that are pooling around the alpha’s feet, and puts the clothing items back on.

"Clarke, what are you doing? Why did you stop?" Octavia asks with a look of utter incomprehension.

"I’m sorry, baby, but we ran out of time.” She leans forward and presses a light kiss on Octavia’s lips. “You have meetings all day, remember? The merchants are already waiting outside to talk to you about trading guidelines."

"I don't want to.” Octavia whines petulantly, “I’ll tell Cooper to cancel."

"You know you can’t on such short notice. You have a duty to our people. But you only have to get through today. Tell Cooper to keep your schedule clear for the next three or four days though, your rut will be in full swing then. See you tonight, baby.”

She walks away, a suggestive swagger in her step.

“Oh and I might have a big surprise for you!" Clarke calls out over her shoulder, winking at Octavia, before she opens the door and steps outside.

 “What? Clarke? Clarke!” Her mate’s pleading voice echoes behind her.

 

 

 

 ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's not nice of Clarke to leave O hanging like that. She'll make it up to her after she pays a visit to Raven to get O's surprise, she'll also play matchmaker along the way...  
> Stay tuned.


	9. In Rut - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised (and on time), here is the second part of the "Octavia in rut" chapter. It got longer than expected (again). I hope you don't mind that there's some Raven/Echo before we get back to the smut. Let me know if you liked it.

 

 

Clarke hopes Raven has finished making the strap-on. It’s been two weeks since she talked to her about it and she has barely seen her friend since then. She knows Raven has been busy, because the mechanic always is, but she feels a little bit guilty for not checking in with Raven for so long.

She’s been living in this blissful bubble with Octavia for the last two weeks and she doesn’t regret that at all, but she briefly contemplates visiting her other friends soon too.

 

When she arrives at Raven’s house, the front door swings open and a somewhat troubled looking Echo comes out. She practically runs away, not even registering Clarke who is standing right in front of the house.

The whole encounter leaves Clarke with a bad feeling, so without knocking she quickly enters the house and searches for her friend.

She finds Raven in the kitchen, only wearing underwear and a tank top. She sits on a kitchen chair, ellbows on her knees and hands covering her face. Her shoulders are shaking and she’s sobbing quietly, and Clarke is kneeling in front of her in an instant.

“Hey, Raven,” She whispers, rubbing up and down the brunette’s arms soothingly, “what happened?”

After a moment Raven takes her hands away from her face and looks up at Clarke pitifully, tears streaming down her face. The hurt and despair in Raven’s eyes make her want to hug her and shield her from the world, but at the same time she wants to search and destroy whoever did this to her friend. She doesn’t care that Echo is a better fighter and can probably…

"It's all your fault."

Well, that wasn’t what she expected Raven to say.

"What? Why?"

"At the harvest festival, after our talk, you just went and kissed Octavia. And it seems to work out for you..."

"Yeah, I mean, it did. But what does that have to do with you and Echo?"

"I... I decided to take a page out of your playbook and just go for it, you know."

"You told Echo you liked her?"

"No, I kissed her..." Raven blushes.

"Hmm, and? What did she say?"

"Nothing. She kissed me back and... then we had sex. I mean, like a lot of sex... She has spent every night here with me since the harvest festival." The blush on Raven’s face has deepened, but she also smiles a little bit as if she can’t help it when thinking about her time with Echo.

"Ok, so you have been sleeping with Echo for two weeks. Isn't that a good thing?" Clarke asks a little bit confused.

"Yeah, it's great! Fantastic!" The beta confirms quickly, but there’s sadness and a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"But?" _There’s always a but, isn’t it,_ Clarke thinks.

"But… I don’t know what’s going on between us. We never talk... and this morning I tried to do that.” Raven sighs heavily, before she proceeds, “I told her that I wanted us to have a real relationship, not a friends with benefits thing or whatever it is we are doing. And Echo, she…”

Raven takes a ragged breath and presses her hands against her eyes shortly as if willing the tears not to fall, she doesn’t succeed.

“She didn't say anything! She got dressed, and I panicked and didn't know what to do or say or how to explain... so I told her the truth. I told her that I'm in love with her… And then she ran."

There are fresh tears running down the mechanic’s face, and Clarke cups her cheeks and gently brushes them away with her thumbs.

"Shit, Raven. I'm so sorry."

"I'm such an idiot, Clarke,” Raven sobs, “I should have kept my mouth shut and just enjoyed what we had. She obviously doesn't want more than the occasional - or regular - sex. She probably hasn't even considered a relationship, let alone to be mated with a beta…"

"Or maybe she was just afraid." Clarke interrupts her friend’s spiraling thoughts.

"It doesn't matter. She's gone. She made her choice." Raven obviously tries to sound resolutely and unaffected, but the next moment she breaks down crying again.

"It hurts so fucking much, Clarke."

"I know. Come here." Clarke opens her arms, inviting Raven in. The beta falls into the embrace and lets Clarke hold her while she sobs on her shoulder.

Clarke is still on her knees in a very uncomfortable position, but she doesn’t care, she just cares about Raven. So she wraps her arms tightly around her friend, whispering soothingly into her ear until all tears are cried out.

 

After consoling Raven and making breakfast for her, even getting her to eat a little bit, Clarke goes to find Echo.

 

 

~

 

 

Echo is on the training fields where she exercises with the peacekeepers. She’s a good fighter and also a very good teacher. Indra soon recognized her talents and made Echo her second in command.  Clarke was thrilled to see that the old feud between Trikru and Azgeda has been put aside.

Right now though all Clarke can think about is Raven crying in her arms and that Echo is the one to blame for her friend’s emotional pain.

Fuelled with rage she storms across the training grounds to where Echo stands and without warning she barrels into her, pushing her back.

Echo staggers at the impact, but she manages to not fall down. She looks at Clarke in shock and confusion which only makes the blonde angrier.

"What's wrong with you?" Clarke yells at her, pushing against her shoulders again. This time Echo is prepared for it, she doesn’t budge. She makes no move to defend herself either.

"How can you do that to her?"

Clarke’s fist hits the Azgeda’s shoulder again. Echo lets her, stumbling back slightly.

Out of the corner of her eyes she sees the three younger peacekeepers Echo has been training with staring at them with big eyes, probably unsure about what to do.

Echo gives them a nod, “Training is over for today, you’re dismissed.”

As soon as they are alone, Clarke growls at Echo again, "How can you do that to her? Don't you know that she is special?"

She can’t help but emphasize her words with another punch.

"Clarke!"

And another.

"Clarke! I know she's special! Will you stop punching me?!" Echo stops her next hit by grabbing her wrists.

She yanks her arms away, breaking Echo’s hold, before she stares at the brunette in confusion.

"But if you know, how can you just leave her?"

"I'm not leaving her.” Echo sighs before she explains further, her voice thick with grief. “I let her go. She deserves so much better than me. You're right, she's special, she's a genius, and funny, and has the biggest heart and on top of it all she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. She's going to change the world for the better. I mean she already has.”

Clarke’s anger evaporates as she can see the love in Echo’s eyes. She realizes that Echo really cares for her friend.

But then the warrior’s eyes fill with sadness and regret. “Me on the other hand... I used to be an assassin and spy. I can count the few good things I've ever done on one hand. I... She's better off without me."

 

"Oh my God, you're both idiots!" Clarke exclaims exasperatedly. "Don't you see? She chose you! That alone makes you pretty damn special too. So you're going to apologize to her for being such a coward and for hurting her, and then you'll spend the rest of your life showing her exactly how special she is."

Clarke looks at Echo expectantly who stands still and just gapes back at her.

"N-Now?" Echo asks finally when Clarke doesn’t budge.

"Of course now! Come on, let's go!" Clarke rolls her eyes and grabs Echo’s hand. She’ll drag her back to Raven herself if she must.

 

 

~

 

 

"Tell her what you told me!" Clarke practically pushes Echo inside Raven’s house where Raven looks up from her work bench and takes them in, seemingly only a little bit surprised.

"I - I'm sorry, Raven. I shouldn't have left.” Echo mumbles, staring down at her feet, looking more like a sad puppy than the proud and stoic warrior she usually portrays.

Crossing her arms, Raven scrutinizes her skeptically.

“Then why did you?”

Echo doesn’t answer at first, just opens her mouth, hesitates, then closes it again. So Clarke who’s standing at her side, nudges the brunette’s shoulder to get her to talk.

“Because you deserve better than me and..."

The words are spoken so low that Clarke doesn’t know if Raven even heard them. Apparently she did, because her response comes quick and laced with anger.

"Well, I think I can decide for myself what or who is best for me."

“Of - of course,” Echo stutters, “I just never… I never thought it would be me…”

For the first time during their conversation, Echo looks Raven in the eyes. “When you told me this morning that you’re in love with me, I was completely blindsided. It was like a dream come true and at the same time it terrified me.” She admits.

“What are you saying, Echo?” Raven uncrosses her arms and steps a little bit closer.

“I’m saying that I’m in love with you too, and I want the absolute best for you, but I’m afraid that I won’t be enough.” Echo says so fast, her words are almost tumbling over each other.

A deafening silence falls over the room. Raven looks at Echo in shock.

“Okaaay, I’m just gonna go over there…” Clarke waves awkwardly to the kitchen, “and make us some tea.” She hurries into the other room and starts busying herself with filling a pot with water and searching Raven’s cabinets for the glass with the delicious tea leaves.

She has her back to the lovesick fools to give them some privacy, but it’s an open floor plan, so she can still hear everything that’s being said.

 

"You are in love with me?"

Clarke’s heart clenches painfully at the insecurity and disbelief in her friend’s voice.

“I’ve loved you for a long time, Raven. I fell in love with you during the first months in space. I mean how could I not? You were the one keeping us alive up there. You’re brilliant and resilient. There is nothing you can’t do, no problem you don’t face head on, no problem you can’t solve. And then I got to know you, and you were even better than I imagined. Despite the things I did to your people in the past, you were kind to me. You included me, you taught me about space and tech, you asked for my help with reparations, you made me feel like a useful member of the group. And then you asked me to train you, show you how to fight, and boy, if I hadn’t been attracted to you before, I sure would have been then, what with seeing you in nothing but a bra and shorts, and the whole body contact thing that comes with hand-to-hand combat…”

“Well, I did enjoy our training sessions too.”

Clarke hears them giggle like teenagers.

“But that’s not all. I came to really appreciate your sense of humor and your little quirks, like the way you poke your tongue out when you’re concentrating on a project or these awful songs you sing when you take a shower...”

“Hey, I have a beautiful singing voice!”

“On top of it all you’re so beautiful that while living on the ark ring I sometimes had to remind myself not to stare at you for too long. Some days I wanted to kiss you so badly…”

“But then why didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you mate with Bellamy after we were up there for a year?”

“I… I know that was a mistake. But as I said, I didn’t feel worthy of you, so I pushed my feelings for you down, buried them deep inside. And Bellamy? He was just there, you know. He came on to me during my first heat, and my body craved an alpha. I wasn’t able to resist. From then on, he treated me as his, and I let him. When he gave me his bite after some months, it felt inevitable, so I gave him mine too. I thought we were a good match. With all the bad things we’ve done, we deserved each other.”

“You were never as bad as him.”

“I was a murdering henchman for an evil queen…”

“Maybe, but you were a warrior, you had a code of honor, you were loyal to somebody other than yourself. Something I can’t say about Bellamy. He was a coward and all he ever did was just for the sole purpose of self-preservation.”

“Raven, still, how can you love me?”

“Because I got to know you during our time in space too, and I didn’t see the assassin, I saw the strong woman that was trying and succeeding to adapt to a completely unfamiliar environment. I saw somebody who had lost everything, even themself, but managed to reinvent themself and build a new life. You’re an impressive woman, Echo, and I’m sorry that you can’t see that. When you’re not hiding under your spy persona, you are compassionate and gentle. You treat people equitably. Sometimes you are even funny…”

“I’m funny, huh?”

“Hmm, a little bit. And when you are not an idiot like this morning, you are smart too.”

“I know I’ve been an idiot, I’m sorry. But I’ll be your idiot, if you want me?”

Clarke hears some shuffling and then kissing sounds. She turns around to see them wrapped up in each other’s arms, sharing a gentle kiss, before whispering "I love you" to each other.

 

 

Even though she hates to disturb them, she decides to make herself known before things get heated.

“Ahem, I’m sorry to interrupt…” She waits till they look at her, seemingly surprised by her presence for a moment, “…and I’m really happy for you, but I actually came to see if you’ve finished the thing we talked about, Raven.”

“The thing?”

“Yeah, you know… the surprise for Octavia?”

“Oh, that thing!” Raven smirks, “yeah, it’s ready. Wait a minute. I’m going to get it.”

Raven goes to the room in the back and returns with a bag in her hands. She takes the strap-on out to show it to Clarke.

“Raven! Not in front of Echo!” Clarke hisses.

“Oh, don’t worry, I helped her test it. Well, not that one, but the prototypes.” Echo chimes in.

This renders Clarke speechless, so she just stares at them open mouthed.

“What?” Raven asks, “I had to conduct some tests, improve form and texture, all to make sure the end result is… satisfying.”

“The testing has been fun, and the final product is the work of a genius.” Echo states proudly.

“Well, that’s… that’s good to know, I guess. But please, spare me further details of your sex life, now and in the future, ok?”

“Ok, deal! I wouldn’t mind to hear from yours so, or more specifically how you liked my product. I mean customer satisfaction is important to me.” Raven smirks, and Echo laughs.

They deserve each other, Clarke thinks.

So Raven shows Clarke the dark gray, phallus shaped object. It has a slight upward slope and a brought base where it can be fixated on the harness. Furthermore there is a little bulge at the edge of the base pointing in the opposite direction of the shaft, and Clarke imagines it’s designed to stimulate the wearer’s clit.

“Ok, so first, I thought about what material to use.” Raven begins to explain excitedly, completely in her element, “Echo told me the grounders used wood and leather, but I read in data from the Old World that dildos were mostly made from silicone back then. I could have made my own silicone from silicon and methyl chloride, but that would have taken longer and I would have had to gather more tech for the production first. Luckily I found enough silicone that Emori brought back from the scavenger tours to the ark ring to have a decent amount of it. It only melts at a very high temperature, but that’s not a problem to me. So I melted the silicone parts - they had different colors, that’s why the end product is this dirty grey - and made a casting mold that had the right shape and poured the liquid silicone into it, let it set and Ta-da!” Raven grins proudly.

“It’s smooth and soft, but also firm.” Echo marvels at it.

“Go on, touch it!”

Clarke does and has to admit the excitement about it is justified. She can’t wait to try the strap-on out.

“It’s fantastic, Raven. Thank you… both.” She nods to Echo as well.

“You’re welcome. And here, you’re going to need this. It’s lube, my special recipe.” Raven hands her a can, together with the bag that contains the dildo and the harness.

“Now go and have fun!” Raven winks.

“Oh, and Clarke…”

Clarke turns around, already at the door.

“Thank you for…” Raven gestures between Echo and herself, “…for this.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiles at her friend.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

After dinner she brought Madi to Harper and Monty who have been excited to take care of the girl for the night.

 _It takes a village…_ , they say and Clarke wonders if people meant that saying exactly for situations when the parents are in rut or heat and have to ask their friends to take care of their children. Probably not. Though it surely comes in handy.

Luckily Madi doesn’t mind to stay with Clarke’s friends. Having sleepovers at Raven’s or Monty’s or Murphy’s place is always an exciting adventure for the girl.

 

Clarke is in the kitchen, cutting some fruits in preparation for the evening. She knows Octavia will be hungry for something else when she comes home, but in between their sexual activities they’ll need something nutritious to recharge their energy.

It’s the first time that Octavia is in rut when Clarke feels like they are an actual couple and she’s looking forward to it. Her whole body has been practically vibrating with excitement and anticipation the whole day, and if she feels like that even though she’s not in heat, she can’t even imagine how it must be for Octavia.

She doesn’t have to contemplate about that any longer, because as if summoned by Clarke’s thoughts the alpha arrives at home.

Octavia has not even closed the front door yet when Clarke hears her calling through the house.

“Clarke?”

“In the kitchen!” She arranges the last pieces of fruit on the plate, before she turns around to take her alpha in.

Octavia comes into the kitchen with an urgency that has Clarke already shivering slightly. The alpha looks like a mixture of a feral wolf ready to bounce and a clumsy puppy who begs to get its belly stroked. Clarke is not sure how Octavia pulls it off, but it’s arousing and adorable at the same time.

“Clarke, how could you leave me like that?” Octavia whines. “I’ve been having a hard-on all day.”

Smiling, she steps closer to Octavia till their bodies are almost touching, and snakes a hand down to the alpha’s crotch.

“I’m sorry, baby.” She whispers into her mate’s ear, smirking when she hears Octavia’s breath hitch. “Tell me how bad it has been. How much have you been aching?”

“It… I… really - fuck - fucking bad.” Octavia stumbles over her words as Clarke massages her boner through her pants.

“And how did your meetings go?” She asks innocently before kissing and nipping along the brunette’s jaw line.

“They… they went well. Nobody dared to speak up against me. Most of the time they didn’t even look directly at me.”

“Hmm, they didn’t because they knew you were the big, bad alpha with the fucking largest cock. Aren’t you, Blodreina?” Clarke whispers, her voice dropping seductively.  She can feel Octavia’s dick twitching through her pants.

“Yeah,” Octavia croaks, then clears her throat and almost growls, “Yes, damn right, I am.”

In one swift movement the alpha grips her hips and pushes Clarke back against the kitchen counter while capturing her lips in a bruising kiss.

Clarke welcomes the alpha’s tongue into her mouth with a whimper, lets Octavia take the lead.

The brunette starts thrusting her pelvis forward against Clarke’s center, and hits her just right to elicit a jolt of arousal with every thrust.

Their lips still connected she feels Octavia’s growl vibrating in her mouth as the alpha pushes her hand down into Clarke’s pants and is immediately met with her wetness.

Eager fingers stroke along her folds and when they press against her already pulsing clit, Clarke throws her head back, moaning in ecstasy.

As if taking that as an invitation Octavia latches onto her exposed throat, sucking wildly, most definitely leaving a mark.

The omega feels herself getting impossible wet, her walls spasm around nothing. She wants more, she needs more. So she grabs Octavia’s hair and pulls her back to look her in the eyes.

“I want you inside of me, please, Blodreina.” Her voice is drowned out by her own needy whimper.

“God, Clarke, I want to be inside of you too…” Octavia gasps, her pupils blown wide with lust, “but we can’t. Not when I’m in rut. My knot…”

“You can pull out before…”

“No, I don’t want to hurt you again. I won’t risk it.”

“Please, O…” She leans her head forward against Octavia’s shoulder, breathing in her scent and shivering with need.

“Fuck, Clarke, I…”

There’s a moment of hesitation and she thinks Octavia is about to give in, but then the alpha pushes two fingers into her opening at once and all coherent thoughts leave her mind, displaced by the deliciously ache of being stretched so suddenly.

Pumping her fingers in and out of her wetness, Octavia sets a hasty pace right from the start.

“Yes, baby!” Clarke spurs her on further. Her alpha complies and rocks her hips against her hand, using the momentum to push her fingers deeper into Clarke.

Her back being pushed against the kitchen counter with every thrust, Octavia’s fingers hitting her sensitive spot inside her silky channel, Clarke feels her climax approaching fast. Octavia’s mouth is on hers again, swallowing her moans.

She comes with a muffled scream, her whole body trembling, her arousal coating Octavia’s hand, and she barely registers that the alpha’s body is jerking violently too.

They just stand there for a while, breathing each other in. There’s no room between them and Clarke can feel both of their bodies shivering every now and then from the aftershocks of their orgasms.

Octavia gently pulls her fingers out of her and removes her hand from her panties which sends another shiver through Clarke’s body.

 

“Fuck, I came in my pants, Clarke.” Octavia whines, and Clarke suppresses a laugh at the rueful expression on her alpha’s face.

“Oh, baby, you’ve been on edge all day, it’s only natural. It happens to every little alpha once in a while.” She smirks.

“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” Octavia retorts, she can’t keep a straight face though and grins almost immediately.

“I don’t think I am, it’s simply a fact.” Clarke quips.

“Of course. My mate is the funniest. How could I forget?” Octavia rolls her eyes playfully.

“Yes, and the most beautiful.”

“Hmm. Not gonna argue with that.” Octavia hums, leaning further into Clarke and resting her head on her shoulder.

She traces her hands up and down Octavia’s back soothingly, and after only a few moments she feels Octavia’s member pressing hard against her crotch again.

“Looks like someone is ready for another round though.” Clarke points out, not at all surprised by her alpha’s stamina. She knows this night has only just started.

“Hmm.” Octavia snuggles closer, wiggling her hips a little bit.

“Hey, thank you for not giving in to my pleas and your alpha nature earlier.” Clarke whispers into her mate’s ear. “I can’t believe I was willing to risk being knotted. As if it hadn’t been painful enough on the day of our bonding.”

At that Octavia pulls back a little bit and looks at Clarke sincerely. “You’re welcome. I promised to myself that day that I won’t ever hurt you again. I’m still so sorry about it.”

“I know.” She kisses her mate gently. “Are you ready for your surprise?”

“Yes, what is it?” The alpha perks up.

“Well, let’s just say, just because you can’t be inside of me during your rut, doesn’t mean I can’t be inside of you, right?”

Mouth gaping open and eyes big as saucers, Octavia stares at her unbelievingly.

“Oh my God, you didn’t, you did? You really got… how?”

“Well, I have my resources.” Clarke smirks. “Why don’t you take this plate of fruits and some water and go to the bedroom? Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

 

 

~

 

 

When she steps out of the bathroom and into their bedroom, she feels a little bit ridiculous, standing there naked with the gray silicone phallus between her legs. She has never worn a strap-on before and getting into the harness has been more difficult than she expected.

But all insecurities are forgotten as soon as she sees the expression on Octavia’s face, a mixture of awe and raw desire.

“It’s so big, Clarke.” Octavia whispers reverently.

“Yeah? Too big?”

“No, no, it’s perfect. It’s… beautiful. You’re beautiful. I love y… - it! I love it.” Octavia is quick to reassure her, blushing deeply about what she has almost said, and Clarke pretends not to have noticed her slip-up. It’s a topic for another time.

 

She walks to the bed and climbs on it on her hands and knees, giving Octavia a sign to lay back against the headboard. While she crawls forward slowly like a predator stalking its prey, Octavia slips back a little and opens her legs invitingly, her eyes never leaving Clarke’s, her breath already getting ragged. 

Hovering over her alpha with her arms on either side of her torso and her knees in between the alpha’s legs, Clarke takes a moment to admire the view.

Octavia’s chest is heaving in anticipation, her well-formed breasts are smaller than Clarkes, firm and soft at the same time, her nipples already perking up rigidly, her abdominal muscles rippling under her smooth skin, her proud member standing at attention, a drop of precum leaking from its head.

Clarke can’t decide what to kiss or where to touch first, she wants to have all of her at once. In the end she just starts at the top, kissing her mate thoroughly and passionately until they are both out of breath. Then she travel down her alpha’s body, licking along her throat, nipping at her pulse point to Octavia’s moans of pleasure.  These convert to lusty cries when she closes her lips around a nipple and starts sucking vigorously while her thumb circles the other one.

Resuming her journey along Octavia’s body Clarke’s mouth and hands trace further down to her firm abdomen, she licks into her navel and strokes her sides, reveling in the small shivers of the beautiful body underneath her.

When she reaches her cock, she lavishes the head with broad licks, tasting the precum on her tongue. By now her hands have reached the alpha’s butt and squeeze the firm flesh lightly. Octavia is squirming in her hold.

“Clarke! Please!” Octavia whimpers.

Letting the cockhead fall from her mouth, Clarke leans back, looking satisfied at the disheveled, needy figure, lying there completely at her mercy. She knows Octavia is ready.

“Turn around. On your hands and knees.” She demands, and the alpha complies eagerly.

The easy display of submission from her alpha gives Clarke a surge of power that’s intoxicating, and she hardly holds herself back from just plowing into Octavia’s ass.

To calm herself down a little bit, she concentrates on the smooth slope of Octavia’s muscled back before her. There’s a sheen layer of sweat on her sun-kissed skin, and once again Clarke finds herself entranced with the beauty of her mate, letting her hand stroke along the alpha’s back reverently. 

A small, impatient wiggle of Octavia’s butt brings her back to the task at hand.  The can with the lube has been standing on their nightstand this whole time, so Clarke leans over to get a generous amount of the sticky substance. She spreads it out over the dildo, before she touches Octavia’s butt hole.

The alpha hisses at the contact with the cold liquid, but soon moans loudly when Clarke slowly pushes a lube covered finger inside. She marvels at the strong sphincter that contracts around her finger, squeezing it tightly.

“God, you’re so tight, baby.”

Octavia’s answer is just another whimper, accompanied with a whole body shiver.

While gripping Octavia’s hip with her other hand to hold her still, Clarke slides her finger in and out till she feels the muscle relax. She adds a second finger then, repeating her preparations, soon a third and a fourth finger are following, spreading Octavia impossibly wide.

Clarke stares at the puckering hole that gapes open now, like it’s begging to be filled. Her own juices are flowing down the insides of her thighs and she thinks she has never been so aroused in her life.

As an omega she has never considered fucking somebody with a strap-on before, but now it feels like it’s all she has ever wanted.

She barely manages to think about asking for Octavia’s consent.

“Are you ready, baby? Do you want me to fill you up with my big, fat cock?”

Octavia just nods desperately.

“I need you to say it. Tell me what you want, baby.”

With what looks like a strenuous effort Octavia turns her head around, staring at the strap-on with pupils blown wide, and croaks, “I - I want you to fuck me with your big, fat cock. Please, fuck my ass!”

Without further warning, Clarke grips Octavia’s hips on both sides and presses the dildo against the alpha’s butt hole. There’s a small resistance at first, but Clarke keeps the pressure and suddenly it gives way and the dildo slides in all the way. Clarke’s hips coming to a stop against Octavia’s butt.

“Clarke!” Octavia cries out, but there’s no pain in her voice, only pleasure, Clarke notices with relief.

She feels Octavia’s whole body shaking, and gives her some time to adjust, before she starts pulling back, leaving just the tip inside.

Thrusting forward again, she also feels the nub at the base of the dildo pressing against her clit and the stimulation alongside everything that’s happening is almost enough to make her come already.

She takes some deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, but when Octavia whimpers again needily, she concentrates her attention fully on giving her mate the best orgasm she ever had.

The first thrusts are a little uncoordinated, but soon she finds her rhythm and Octavia’s lustful moans indicate she hits the right spots.

“Yes, Clarke! That’s it.”

She leans forward, draping her body over Octavia’s back and whispers into her ear, “You’re so good for me, baby. Taking my cock so well.”

At the new angle Octavia screams in pleasure, her whole body now constantly shaking underneath Clarke’s.

She grips the back of her head and pulls Octavia into a fiery kiss. Their tongues are stroking each other sloppily till they break apart to catch their breath.

Clarke feels the heat in her lower abdomen rising rapidly and she knows she’s close.

She wraps an arm around her mate, grips her dick and begins to stroke up and down the shaft gently at first, but speeding up her movements quickly, while also pumping in and out Octavia’s ass more powerfully.

She feels a growing bulge at the base of Octavia’s shaft and knows the alpha’s knot is forming.

Their bodies rocking back and forth in tandem with Clarke’s hard thrusts, Clarke feels more animalistic than ever before. Overcome with the urge to dominate, to posses, she bites hard into Octavia’s neck where her mating bite sits.

As soon as her teeth break the skin and Octavia’s scent mixed with blood fills her mouth, her orgasm rips through her with an unknown intensity.

At the same time Octavia comes too, screaming Clarke’s name, her body shaking violently and her cock erupting in a fountain of cum.

Her arms not able to hold her anymore, Octavia crashes down onto the mattress, Clarke on top of her, while their bodies seem to shake and pulse in unison.

 

Coming down from her high, Clarke slips the dildo out of Octavia and lays down beside her, tracing light circles on the alpha’s back with her fingers.

Octavia seems to be out of it for while, not making a move, only a slight shiver running through her body every now and then.

Clarke kisses her shoulder gently, before whispering, “Hey, are you okay?”

Octavia turns her head to look at her, an exhausted but content looking smile on her face.

“Am I okay? I’m more than ok, Clarke, I’m flying. That was… that was… I don’t even know how to describe it. You’ve sufficiently ruined me.”

“Ok, good.” Clarke grins mischievously, “Ready for another round?”

“Are you planning on killing me?”

“Maybe.” She smirks.

“Because I would totally let you. Just give me another minute.”

“Ok, get some rest, little alpha. Big Daddy wants to have her way with you again soon.”

“Big Daddy, huh?” Octavia raises an eyebrow.

“You don’t like it?”

“Oh, no, I like it.”

“Good. I want to hear you screaming it when I make you come again.”

 

 

~

 

 

When Clarke wakes up the next morning, her whole body feels sore from their nightly activities, but there’s something else. It’s like an undercurrent of fire is running through her veins, and she can feel it getting stronger.

Octavia stirs behind her. When the alpha’s hand travels over her hip to her stomach, her skin tingles and burns and the feeling shoots all the way to her core.

Startled Clarke opens her eyes as realization dawns. She’s in heat.

 

 

 

 

~

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don't know how long it'll take me to write the next chapter, because I'm going to be quite busy with work for the rest of the year.  
> I think it'll probably take between 2 to 4 weeks till the next update.  
> There are only 3 (or maybe 4) chapters left of this story, so I hope to finish this fic by January. 
> 
> Thank you for your patience in advance! :)


	10. Animal Instinct

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've been editing this chapter all day and finally just give up and post it. It's about 90% smut and I really hope you'll enjoy it. 
> 
> Thank you all for being so patient, and thanks to everyone who is so kind to leave kudos and/or a comment! I really appreciate your support. <3

 

 

It is not uncommon that the cycles of bonded mates align. In fact it is expected. It’s nature’s way to provide the perfect conditions for procreation, with the preservation of the species as the most important goal.

So it shouldn’t surprise Clarke so much that her heat has set in almost two weeks early, right at the peak of Octavia’s rut. And yet, they’ve only been bonded for a little over four months. Often it takes at least one year for the heat of the omega and the alpha’s rut to synchronize.

Somehow with Lexa their cycles had already been in sync even before they were bonded. Some people say it’s a sign of true mates, others think it’s just a coincidence. Before Lexa Clarke counted herself as one of the cynics, after she still wouldn’t call herself a romantic, but she often wondered how it was possible to fall for someone so fast and so deeply without it being some kind of fate.

 

The rising ache in her lower abdomen makes itself known with a painful cramp and jolts her out of her musings. Desperately she tries to breathe through the pain, but it only comes out as a pitiful whimper. There is only one way to relieve this special kind of torment.

Before she knows what she’s doing, her hand is between her legs, fingers stroking up and down her slit. She’s already soaked, her fingers gliding through the slick heat without any resistance when she pushes not one but two fingers inside. The simultaneous pressure of her palm against her clit has her moaning in pleasure and her whole body shaking violently.

She doesn’t know what woke Octavia up, maybe the push of Clarke’s back into her bedmate’s groin or the needy noises coming out of her mouth, but suddenly the alpha’s hand has joined her own between her thighs. She feels Octavia’s fingertips brushing over her knuckles before stroking gently along her middle finger that is still buried deep inside of her. With ease Octavia’s finger glides in besides her own, stretching Clarke’s insides deliciously.

“Octavia,” Clarke gasps when her alpha crooks her finger, the motion pressing their combined fingers into the rough spot on her front wall, causing a new wave of arousal to run through her body.

Nuzzling into her neck, Octavia whispers against her skin, “Let me take care of you, Clarke.”

Not able to form words, Clarke just nods and removes her hand, making space for Octavia who instantly pushes two more fingers inside her entrance.

Octavia’s fingers stroke her insides at a leisurely pace while the alpha’s mouth and tongue lavish her neck with wet kisses and her other hand cups Clarke’s breast, kneading it gently.

At her mate’s ministrations Clarke feels like her insides are going to melt, the pressure in her core reaching an almost painful high. Her heat is also making itself known by a surge of lustful pheromones, and instantly she hears Octavia suck in a harsh breath.

“Clarke, you... Are you in heat?”

“Hmm.” She whimpers, bucking her hips forward, urging Octavia to continue her fingers’ movements.

Instead the alpha pulls her fingers out, causing a grunt of protest from Clarke.

She is rolled onto her back before she feels Octavia leaning over her. Reluctantly she opens her eyes and is met with her alpha’s green orbs that seem to get darker with every inhale of her alluring scent.

Octavia’s boner is pressing into her thigh while the brunette whispers with a mixture of awe and desire in her voice, “You are in heat.”

“Yeah, baby. What are you going to do about it?” It was meant to come across as teasing, but Clarke can’t hide her own desperate want.

Instead of an answer Octavia leans down and kisses her hard and deep, taking Clarke’s breath away. The alpha’s body molds into Clarke’s. Her tongue savoring her mouth, they kiss until Clarke’s lungs burn. When Octavia pulls back, she’s gasping for breath and dripping between her legs.

As if she has smelled her arousal, Octavia nudges Clarke’s legs apart gently but also with an urgency Clarke hasn’t expected, and dives down in between them. Wasting no time the alpha licks the whole length of her cunt in one stroke.

Slamming her head back into the mattress at the sudden stimulation, Clarke groans in ecstasy. She’s already so sensitive that it feels like her nerve endings are on fire.

Another jolt of hot, white pleasure surges through her body as Octavia hums against her folds. “You taste so good, Clarke, especially when you’re in heat… Have I told you that? You taste truly divine.”

She shakes her head, her breath catching again when she sees the raw desire in Octavia’s now almost completely black eyes.

“I can’t get enough.” Her alpha growls before she drops down again and takes her clitoris into her mouth.

Clarke isn’t able to hold back the series of high-pitched, wanton noises as Octavia sucks and nips on the tender nub until a surge of hot, slick liquid gushes out of her.

Drinking in her wetness with long, broad strokes of her tongue, Octavia lifts Clarke’s legs onto her shoulders to get better access. Clarke hasn’t even noticed the frantic jerks of her hips until Octavia tightens her grip on her thighs to hold her in place.

Suddenly Octavia’s tongue plunges deep inside, and Clarke rakes her nails against Octavia’s scalp, her mouth open in a silent plea to make her stay there forever.

Octavia’s wet, velvety muscle moves inside her channel with even stokes, causing Clarke’s walls to quiver and tighten until she clenches around the alpha’s tongue. Her whole body seizing, she comes with a guttural cry.

Octavia doesn’t stop though, she continues lapping up Clarke’s juices, feasting on her arousal. It sends wave after wave of hot pleasure through her, drawing out her orgasm until it becomes too much.

So Clarke pushes lightly at Octavia’s shoulders, gasping for breath, she stammers, “Baby, you… you’ve been perfect. I… just give me a minute, ok?”

Octavia cranes her neck and looks at her, her pupils still so wide that they seem to have swallowed her green irises, but there is a gentleness and fondness in her gaze that makes Clarke’s heart flutter in her chest.

After a moment of silent contemplation her alpha nods and croaks, “okay, whatever you need”, before crawling up Clarke’s body. Her mouth and chin glistening with Clarke’s arousal, she presses a soft kiss against the omega’s lips.

Laying her head down against Clarke’s shoulder, she breathes light kisses along her collarbone and lets her hand stroke up and down Clarke’s side gently.

 

 

Clarke holds her alpha in her arms till her breathing evens out and her body doesn’t feel like molten lead anymore. But it’s not long until she becomes acutely aware of Octavia’s hard-on resting against her thigh once again and a familiar tingle spreads along her spine and coils at the lower end of her abdomen.

At the thought of taking Octavia’s knot her whole body feels like it’s on fire again. The alpha’s scent in the air is so strong, Clarke can practically taste it on her tongue. She knows it’s probably her omega nature talking, but she wants to be claimed and knotted so badly and suddenly it’s all she can think about.

Octavia must have felt her shifting, because she looks up to her, raising her brow questioningly.

“I’m in heat.” Clarke mutters.

“I know. Does that mean, you’re ready for round two? Because I’m totally game.” Octavia leans in for a teasingly short kiss.

“Yeah, but also, you’re still in rut.” Clarke breathes against the alpha’s lips.

“Hmm, true. Isn’t it great that our cycles have aligned so quickly?” Octavia says happily, somehow oblivious to what Clarke insinuates.

“Baby, I’m in heat and you are in rut at the same time.” Clarke emphasizes her words with a thrust of her hips.

“Yeah, I know, we’ve already established that and… oh.” Her mouth falling open, Octavia stares at her with big eyes. “You mean… no? Really? You would want me to…?”

“God, yes, Octavia. I want to take your knot.” Clarke says impatiently as the ache in her center intensifies.

“You want me to knot you?” The alpha asks again, seemingly still unbelieving.

“I’m in heat, I can take it.” Clarke reiterates.

“But, what if you can’t?” Octavia bites her lip nervously.

“Hey, you’re not going to hurt me, ok?” She cups her mate’s cheek, stroking her thumb along her defined cheekbone reassuringly. “My body is ready now. I want all of you inside of me.”

“Okay.” Octavia whispers. 

Clarke thinks her alpha’s concern is endearing, it only makes her want her more. She places her hand in the nape of Octavia’s neck and pulls her down to kiss her soundly.

While licking into Octavia’s mouth, she feels the alpha’s body gliding fully on top of her, molding against her. So she opens her legs further to welcome her in between.

The tip of Octavia’s strained member nudging against Clarke’s clit pulls a loud moan from her. At the same time her mate releases a deep groan, the vibrations against her chest shooting right to Clarke’s core.

She eagerly reaches down to grip Octavia’s length and guide it to her entrance, but Octavia wraps her hand around her wrist, stopping her.

“Not yet.” She breathes against Clarke’s lips before sucking and nipping on her bottom lip.

Almost dizzy with want Clarke whimpers in protest, but pulls her hand back anyway, stroking it along Octavia’s lower back instead. The alpha’s firm muscles quiver under her touch and she feels goosebumps arising on her mate’s skin. Together with her alpha’s front pressed against hers, their breasts touching, and their tongues playing with each other in a familiar rhythm, Clarke feels engulfed in her alpha completely and it’s absolutely intoxicating.

Octavia’s mouth wanders along the column of her throat, sucking on her pulse point, before making its way down to her chest. She closes her lips around her nipple, sucking and licking the pink nub until it’s hard and oversensitive, while pinching the other one between her thumb and index finger, making Clarke whine in pain and pleasure.

The heat in her center is getting unbearable, and when Octavia’s fingers trail slowly down her abdomen and between her thighs, her clipped nails scratching lightly across her skin, Clarke feels like she might spontaneously combust.

Her inner omega rears and her whole body quivers with unbridled want. Her wet walls tighten in desperate need of the only kind of friction that can satisfy her. At this point she’s not above pleading.

“Octavia, please… I need you inside!” Her words are distorted in a strangled moan.

Thankfully her alpha seems ready to comply because she begins to slowly slide her cock through Clarke’s wet folds.

But Clarke’s patience is running low, the animalistic desire too fervent to wait anymore. So sneaking her hand down between their bodies again, she wraps it around Octavia’s shaft, feeling it pulsing and even growing bigger underneath her hand.

She hesitates shortly, seeking her alpha’s gaze. When their eyes meet, there’s a silent understanding, a mutual consent, and with one last tug Clarke lines Octavia’s cock up with her entrance.

Wrapping her legs around Octavia’s waist to give her some more leverage, Clarke lifts her hips upwards, pressing herself against Octavia’s cock till her opening gives way. While a deep moan of satisfaction escapes her throat, the bulbous head slides inside. The easy entrance only confirms Clarke’s belief that she will be able to take her alpha’s knot as well.

Octavia is panting above her, holding herself up with her hands on either side of Clarke. Her eyes are screwed shut in concentration, while she sinks herself deeper into Clarke’s channel. It’s a smooth glide, Clarke’s walls wet and welcoming. In no time Octavia is buried fully inside of her, their pelvises resting against each other.

Stroking her hand along Octavia’s trembling arm gently, Clarke whispers, “hey, it’s ok, you can let go. You won’t hurt me.”

At that Octavia opens her eyes, her expression contorted with painful pleasure.

“Clarke, it feels so good and I… my rut… I don’t know if I can hold back once I…”

“Shh, baby, I trust you. Do you trust me?”

Octavia nods her head, breathing shakily, “Yes.”

“Good. Then trust me that I’ve got this. Ok? I’ve got you. You can let go.”

Octavia exhales deeply and Clarke can feel a part of the tension leave her alpha’s body. Nevertheless the alpha starts with careful thrusts, pulling out till only the head of her cock is still inside, then pushing back in. It’s slow and measured, and Clarke is sure it must be some sort of torture. But she holds herself back from urging her mate on anymore. She knows Octavia needs this, needs to find her confidence and lose her fear.

Eventually the rocking of Octavia’s hips gets more forceful. Taking that as a sign that she’s ready, Clarke bucks her hips up to meet Octavia’s thrusts with her own. As the alpha takes her harder and faster with each thrust, stretching her wider, the fire in her core becomes a raging inferno. Grappling for something to hold on to, she digs her nails into Octavia’s back, probably drawing blood with the force of it.

Choked sounds are leaving her mouth, mixed with Octavia’s grunts of pleasure, while the bed creaks beneath them.

With every push Octavia drives deeper inside of her, her wet walls trembling around the alpha’s shaft and Clarke can feel the knot inflating at the base of it.

Octavia seems to feel it too, because she stops her open-mouth kisses against Clarke’s throat abruptly and the rhythm of her hips falters.

"Clarke..." She hardly hears Octavia’s strangled voice. "I don't think I can hold back anymore..."

"It’s ok. I can take it. I want it." She manages to assure her mate again, even as her head is swimming with desire, her walls clench in need and her inner omega thrashes about.

"Clarke, are you sure?"

"Yes, please baby, take me. Knot me. Fill me up." Clarke spurs her on, her voice low and hoarse.  

It’s finally enough encouragement for her lover to push forward again, rocking into Clarke’s center. Her knot is big and hard against her entrance, and for a moment Clarke thinks that maybe it’s too big, maybe they should stop. But then every grind of Octavia’s hips presses it more firmly against her. She feels her muscles relent, and slowly but surely her wet heat is engulfing the huge bulb at the base of the alpha’s shaft.

When it’s lodged fully inside, Clarke can’t hold back a broken cry. Her walls are stretched impossibly wide, but the pain is overshadowed by an indescribable pleasure.

While taking a few deep breaths and getting accustomed to the intrusion, Clarke feels Octavia’s whole body shivering above her, and the hot, harsh puffs of air leaving her mouth on the side of her throat.

“It’s ok, baby, I’m ok. You fill me up so good.” She whispers into her alpha’s ear.

The swelling of the knot is so tight inside of her that she feels it pulsing in sync with her heartbeat. She’s teetering on the edge of her orgasm, but it’s not enough to push her over yet. She doesn’t even know what’s missing, but instinct is taking over and unconsciously Clarke rocks her hip upwards.

Her movement leads to her alpha driving her cock even deeper inside with a forceful thrust, breaching her cervix. The feeling overwhelms Clarke’s senses. She’s not even able to breathe when suddenly hot, wet seed spills into her womb, filling her completely. She hardly recognizes Octavia’s teeth burying into her scent gland, her essence being sucked up greedily.

It’s all too much at once. She’s claimed by her alpha so all-encompassing that it not only tips but pushes her over the edge with a force so mighty she feels like she is flying. Her back arches with the intensity of her orgasm, her mouth opens in a seemingly never ending litany of high-pitched cries and low moans. Her walls are contracting vigorously around Octavia's shaft, milking every last drop of cum from her alpha.

Soon her vision fades out, the screams of ecstasy are drowned out by her own pulse rushing loudly in her ears. Her whole world is reduced to the feeling of her alpha on top of her and inside of her and all around her, and for once her inner omega is satisfied and content like she thought it would never be ever again after losing her first mate.

Outside of her heat, she is Clarke, an independent, strong woman who doesn’t belong to anyone but herself. But here in this moment ancient instincts have taken over and she is one with her mate.

 

 

She doesn’t know how much time has passed, she doesn’t know if she has even been conscious the whole time after her earth-shattering orgasm.

She just lies there, her body covered in sweat, her chest heaving, trying to get more oxygen into her lungs.

Octavia is not faring any better, she assumes by the way the brunette is lying sprawled out on top of her, boneless and completely spent.

Their bodies are still stuck together by Octavia’s knot. Even though her cock isn’t hard anymore, the swelling of the knot hasn’t gone down yet. It is nature’s way of sealing the loads of sperm inside of the omega to ensure that the seed takes.

Clarke wiggles her hips a little bit to get into a more comfortable position. The movement ignites a spark of new arousal in her core. Octavia groans into her neck, she seems to feel it too, because her dick is twitching, a small spurt of hot cum trickling into Clarke’s uterus.

So Clarke does it again, and again, relishing the tiny jolts of pleasure and the feeling of Octavia’s knot inside of her. It’s like she can’t stop, once she has started.

She contemplates if she could get another orgasm out of it, but then Octavia intervenes.

“Clarke, what…” Octavia falters when Clarke rocks her hips upward once more.

“Clarke,” the alpha tries again, one hand braced besides Clarke’s head to push herself up a little bit, “what are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Clarke says innocently, but there’s a mischievous grin on her face.

“Hmm…”

When Octavia pinches her eyebrows together and suddenly looks self-conscious, Clarke’s smile fades.

“Hey,” She strokes her fingers along Octavia’s jawline softly to make her look at her, “are you still concerned about your knot? Because I think I’ve made it abundantly clear that I very much enjoyed taking it.”

“Yeah, no, it’s not that.”

“Ok, then tell me. What’s wrong?”

“I think we should talk about something before we go at it again.”

“Ok, go on.” Clarke encourages her.

“Actually we probably should have talked about this before…” The alpha gestures down between them.

“You start freaking me out. Whatever you want to talk about, just say it.”

So Octavia takes a deep breath and then starts.

“Well, I’m in rut and you’re in heat and these are the best preconditions to… you know… to get you pregnant. I mean chances are slim, what with the levels of radiation everyone was exposed to directly before Praimfaya hit... then the malnutrition during the years in the bunker... All in all birthing rates have been very low. Raven told me it's been the same up in space. None of the mated couples up there got pregnant even though they quickly ran out of birth control…”

Octavia looks away briefly, a blush coloring her face at her next words.

“Um, what I’m trying to say is, if you don’t want to risk getting pregnant, we should go to Niylah and get more of this grounder tea that prevents pregnancies. Or if you want to… I mean, would you be okay with having a child with me? Because I-I wouldn’t be against it, but I would never just assume that you…"

Clarke stops her alpha’s rambling by connecting their lips for a sweet kiss.

She brushes her tongue over Octavia’s lower lip before smiling softly. "Yes, Octavia. I would be okay with carrying your child - our child."

Octavia looks at her dumbfounded. "R - Really?"

"Yes, really.”

From the window on the left side of the room the early rays of sunlight are streaming in and illuminate Octavia’s beautiful features in a soft, bright light. Her lips are stretched in a wide smile and her eyes seem to be glowing with affection. The sight warms Clarke’s chest with a feeling that has nothing to do with her heat, and she can’t help but to kiss her mate again.

“Would you want to have a child with me?" Clarke murmurs when their lips part. She thinks she knows the answer, but she has to ask, has to hear it nonetheless.

"I... yes, I would be honored if you were willing to have a child sired by me." Octavia declares breathlessly.

"Ok, that's settled then." Clarke smiles brightly. "And, you know, conditions seem to be getting better. Since our people got out from the bunker there have been a few pregnancies."

"Only three, Clarke." It sounds a little bit like Octavia doesn’t want to get her hopes up, but Clarke can feel her practically vibrating with excitement, so she decides to support her argument further.

"Three pregnancies in the last four months in a population of one thousand. That's a start. Our people are well-fed. Maybe birthing rate will go up..."

"Yeah, if the radiation hasn't caused too much damage to our reproductive organs."

Kissing the little frown away from Octavia’s lips, Clarke feels the familiar ache in her lower belly intensify again. So she turns her mouth to her alpha’s earlobe, biting it lightly before whispering seductively, "Well, we can't influence that anyway, so why not just enjoy ourselves and whatever happens happens..."

The answering full body shiver of her mate accompanied with a small thrust of her hips is enough for Clarke to know they won’t leave their bed anytime soon.

 

 

~

 

 

Eventually - come noon - they have to get up though which seems like an unfeasible feat.

Somehow they manage, but only after they tried to get dressed for the third time. The two times before got interrupted by either one of them touching the other fleetingly which lead to them both getting completely naked again.

By the third time, they knew to just get dressed as quickly as possible without touching or looking at each other.

 

While Octavia goes to speak with Cooper about extending Blodreina’s time off, Clarke fetches Madi from Monty and Harper and arranges for her daughter to stay with Abby for the next couple of days.

After only an hour apart from her alpha the pulsing heat in her core has Clarke ready to crawl out of her skin. She aches to get back to Octavia again, but unfortunately her mother insists on having lunch together first.

“You have to eat something Clarke. Your body needs the energy, especially when you’re in heat.”

She feels energetic alright, but more energy doesn’t hurt, she assumes. In the end she even decides to gather some leftovers for a take away package to bring Octavia.

 

 

Clarke has barely made her way inside the house when her back is pushed against the nearest wall and the package of food falls out of her hand and onto the floor. A groan of pain escapes her, but before she can protest more vocally, Octavia’s mouth slams into hers, lips hard and unyielding.

Apparently their time apart - albeit being short - has taken a toll on her alpha too.

Hungrily deepening the kiss, Octavia rips apart Clarke’s shirt and grabs her breasts, massaging them in a way that has Clarke screaming into her lover’s mouth and soaking her panties with her arousal.

Before she has time to catch up with what is going on, Octavia has pushed down Clarke’s pants and underwear and makes her step out them after pulling of her shoes.

The cold air hits her wet folds causing Clarke to gasp into the next kiss. She feels Octavia’s hand fumbling with her belt and zipper, and then the same hand is between Clarke’s bare legs, thumb pressing roughly against her clit.

Octavia’s other hand takes Clarke’s wrists and holds her hands up above her head, leaving her at the mercy of her mate.

It only takes one powerful thrust and Octavia is buried inside of her to the hilt. The sudden intrusion leaves Clarke gasping once more, her channel quivering around the alpha’s thick dick.

Without premonition the alpha starts thrusting her cock in and out of Clarke. It’s rough and raw and when Clarke looks into Octavia’s dark eyes, she’s met with the gaze of a beast, blazing with a primal need.

Her mate’s alpha on display in its purest form draws out even the last suppressed shreds of her omega nature. She feels herself lose control, the animal inside of her taking over once again.

She isn’t afraid. She realizes she trusts her mate unconditionally.

So she surrenders to the dominant creature that has taken hold of Octavia. For right now this is what she needs too.

She needs to feel Octavia’s hard thrusts against her pelvis, not caring that they are surely going to leave bruises. She vastly enjoys her alpha’s shaft scraping her inner walls deliciously rough. She shivers from Octavia’s hot breath on her neck which also causes her to instinctively bare her throat even further.

Her ankles locked behind the small of Octavia’s back, she’s bouncing on her alpha’s cock, each thrust forcing another lustful moan out of her chest.

Her orgasm hits her unexpectedly, and she gushes all over the alpha’s growing knot.

From then on gravity is doing its part to force the alpha’s knot inside her and even though she feels Octavia coming too, the alpha doesn’t stop. She rocks relentlessly into her, although with the inflated knot locking them together thrusting became nearly impossible.

Clarke finds herself gasping and whimpering, her insides clenched so tightly around Octavia’s girth it almost hurts.

All she can do is hang on and enjoy the ride while her alpha fucks her into oblivion.

 

 

 

 

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: After all this smut, we are back to the plot (well, a little bit at least), and they'll talk about their FEELINGS (finally, right?).
> 
> Updates are unfortunately still going to be slow - I'm so sorry about that - but you can look out for the next chapter at the beginning of December.


	11. I Love You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s the beginning of December and as promised here is the next chapter. This one is - like the title indicates - all about their feelings, with a little bit of humor. I hope you’ll enjoy the chapter even though there’s no smut.

 

 

They don’t leave the house for the next three days. The brunt of their heat and rut induced coupling is over after two. When finally their heads clear from the clouds of pheromones and they are able to think about something other than sex, they spend a whole day recuperating and cleaning the house.

Some things can’t be salvaged with washing or cleaning though, leaving them no other option than to throw them out. Actually they stack the unsalvageable items behind the house to be burned later. There are a couple of pillows, furs and bed linen, as well as a rug and a wrecked kitchen chair - it looked sturdy, but in hindsight it wasn’t sturdy enough for two people rocking on top of it.

In the morning of the fourth day Clarke looks around their now a little bit emptier, but clean home and is satisfied with the result. Raven and Echo will bring Madi back soon and join them for breakfast.

While setting the table she contemplates if the extensive cleaning of the kitchen table - they even used some of Monty’s distilled alcohol - has been enough to make it halfway sanitary again to eat from it or if they should have gotten rid of it together with the broken chair. The table has been surprisingly robust though. It must be high quality, so it would be a pity to lose it.

Thanks to Abby they haven’t run out of food during the days they were cooped up in the house. The older woman has brought fresh vegetables, fruits and high protein dishes to their doorstep twice a day. Nevertheless Clarke feels like she is starving, now that her body’s cravings have shifted away from less nutritious bodily pleasures. She can’t wait to eat, so she is more than happy when she hears the front door open and the trampling of footsteps big and small echoing inside their home.

“Mommy, mommy!” Madi squeaks excitedly, running towards her.

Clarke sinks down to welcome her daughter into her arms. Realizing that she has never been separated from Madi for that long - even though it has just been a few days -, she hugs her daughter tightly and murmurs between kisses to Madi’s head, “I missed you so much, babygirl.”

“I missed you too, mom.”

In the background she sees Octavia coming out of the bathroom to greet their guests. As soon as the alpha’s voice fills the air, Madi perks her head up, so Clarke loosens her hold and lets her go.

With a bright smile on her face she watches Madi jumping into Octavia’s arms, the alpha catching her with practiced ease.

“Did you miss me too, O?”

“Of course, little pauna.” Octavia answers, tickling the girl’s belly before they both dissolve into a fit of laughter.

“Well, we missed you too. We started to think you two lovebirds would never come out of your sex den again and… Ouch!”

Raven is interrupted by Echo slapping her shoulder and Octavia hissing, “Raven!”

“What?” The mechanic grumbles and rubs her shoulder.

“Okay, who’s hungry?” Clarke tries to divert the conversation to a more child-friendly subject.

“Me! I’m hungry, mom!” Madi exclaims, bouncing on Octavia’s arm.

 

In no time they all sit around the kitchen table and while Echo unpacks the food she and Raven brought, Octavia and Madi are already stuffing forks full of Abby’s apple pie into their mouths.

Clarke just shakes her head at her two hungry girls, earning a smirk from Octavia.

“What? I need to refuel. You’ve worn me out.” The alpha mumbles around a piece of pie.

“Oh, so now Octavia is allowed to make innuendos but I am not. That’s not fair!” Raven sulks.

“That’s because you don’t know how to be subtle.” Octavia grins cheekily.

“Pfff, as if anything between you and Clarke is subtle…”

“Mom, what’s aunty Raven talking about?” Madi looks up from her plate, her brow furrowed in confusion. “Is it about the stink?”

Clarke almost chokes on her maggot mush. “What - What stink?”

“The house smells funny.” Madi wrinkles her nose as if to demonstrate her point.

Raven doesn’t even try to hide her mischievous grin. “That’s the smell of love mak…”

“Raven!”

“Come on, Clarke, your house smells like a brothel.”

“No, it doesn’t! We’ve cleaned everything and even threw things out. And besides, you’re a beta, there’s no way you can still smell…”

“What about the armchair?” Echo asks, one eyebrow raised.

“What’s a brothel?” Madi chimes in at the same time. “It’s something from the old world, it’s not important.” Octavia whispers into the girl’s ear while looking at Clarke anxiously.

“Which armchair?” Clarke tries to sound nonchalantly, but feels herself blushing at a certain memory creeping up on her.

Echo turns to her left and points towards their living room. “The one in the corner there, I’m sure it’s the source of the smell. My omega senses are pretty good.”

“Damn it.” Clarke curses under her breath. She loves that chair, it’s so big and comfy. Before the rudely reminder, Clarke had already almost forgotten their little tryst on that armchair the other day.

 

All she had wanted was to take a break and snuggle near the fireplace for one hour, but no, her overeager alpha just had to fuck her right then and there. Ok, maybe she started it when she climbed onto Octavia’s lap and kissed her, but she also tried to coax her alpha to wait until they were back in bed, knowing they could potentially ruin her favorite chair.

 

She glares at Octavia and at least the alpha has the decency to look away in shame.

“Baby, why don’t you and Raven take the armchair outside to the other stuff.” She says with a saccharine sweet voice that barely hides the underlying anger.

“Of course,… honey bear?” Octavia’s voice wavers slightly as she stands up quickly, a timid smile on her face.

While Octavia and Raven busy themselves with the armchair, Clarke asks her daughter about the days she has spend first with Abby and then with Raven and Echo, and Madi launches into a detailed telling of all her adventures.

In the background Clarke hears Raven groaning when lifting up the chair, complaining about how the chair is really heavy and stinky.

“Stop exaggerating, you probably can hardly smell any alpha or omega scent at all.” Octavia grumbles.

“Yeah, but I’m not blind and I mean, seriously, whose jizz is that jizz?”

 

“…and then grandma showed me how to wrap a bandage around the ankle and Iwan thanked me for my help.” Madi puffs her chest proudly, thankfully oblivious to what is going on in the living room.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, babygirl, that’s great! Good job!” Clarke answers distractedly, trying to stifle the urge to strangle Raven.

 

She settles for a scolding look when Raven returns to the table. In return the brunette just shrugs innocently, but Clarke knows she knows what this is about.

After Octavia also joins them again, Raven tells them about her newest achievements while Echo stares at her girlfriend with barely hidden adoration. Clarke never thought she would ever see an expression like that on the usually stoic and unimpressed face of the Azgeda warrior.

Over the last few months Raven has managed to repair and rebuild enough solar panels to provide electricity for most parts of their village and is now busy setting up the power grid. Obviously the clinic was the first one to get electricity, making it no longer dependent on the old generator which provided barely enough energy to power the basic medical equipment.

Clarke and Octavia’s house would have been next, but no one dared to disturb them for the last few days. So now the church turned governmental building, Monty’s farm house, the guard house and the sleeping quarters of the peacekeepers as well as Raven’s house - as it contains her workstation – have power before them. Octavia doesn’t mind at all and even orders Raven to prioritize the buildings that are important to the whole community.

In the end they have already finished eating for a while but still sit at the table as breakfast has turned into a work meeting. The four of them discuss their plans for wonkru’s future, while Madi plays with her wooden toy figures. Clarke carved them for her at a time when they were the only people on the surface of the earth and Clarke’s greatest accomplishment in a day was to figure out how to whittle a horse that didn’t look like a turtle.

 

 

~

 

The next few weeks fly by. Work is plenty and their village seems to be expanding every day. New houses are being built. The market place is bustling with life, new vendors opening their stalls, people exchanging their goods.

There’s a sense of purpose in the air, the people of Wonkru finally feeling like the future is in their hands once again. Nobody is slacking and even though work is hard and sometimes even dangerous, Clarke has never seen people more content.

As much as she likes overseeing and coordinating some of the projects as well as helping out wherever she can, she also cherishes the moments she can spend with her family.

 

Of course the day it happens isn’t one of those days where she gets to stay at home.

They have been out, scouring the forest for wildlife activity since the early hours of the morning.

There were rumors about an increase in the population of wild boar. The rakish predators have been seen near the village, rummaging through some leftover food. Someone even claimed a wild animal broke into his house and ransacked his supplies.

On the search for the wild boars’ breeding grounds their small hunting party went on for hours, following tracks of the cloven hoofed animals till they were in a territory that was completely unknown to them - even to Clarke who had spent years in the valley after Praimfaya.

As the afternoon approached and they still hadn’t found anything, they were ready to go back home when suddenly a herd of wild boars broke out from the row of trees on their left.

Most of the agile hunters were able to dive out of their way, but the youngest of their group, a brawny but slow alpha named Kai, froze at the sight of the large animals barreling his way. He would have been trampled to death if Clarke hadn’t pushed him out of the way. They both fell to the ground, but unfortunately Clarke didn’t manage to get far enough away from the herd’s path. So she suffered a few hits as a boar clomped over her.

Still, she was lucky. In the end she makes it back to the village on her own two feet with only a little assistance from her fellow hunters and a makeshift walking stick.

She counts the excursion as a success as they now know where to find the wild boars and nobody has died - yet.

 

The moment the incident had happened though, Clarke knew she would have to keep her mate from killing the young alpha later.

The nearer they get to the village Clarke feels the nervousness in their group rising. Kai looks pale, like he’s going to be sick, he even starts to tremble when the first houses come into view.

They arrive later as planned, so there’s quite a commotion as soon as they reach the market place and the news of their return makes its rounds.

Octavia has obviously waited for them, because she is the first one to approach them.

When Octavia sees Clarke with her ragged clothes, leaning heavily on her crane, there is a flicker of panic on her face. She rushes to her, inspecting Clarke from head to toe, before her hands travel over her body gently, probing here and there.

The way she's fussing over her is sweet, but also a little bit embarrassing as Clarke's hunting party watches them.

"O, I'm fine. Stop it." Clarke whispers.

"Fine? You're hurt! There's blood on your shirt and one pant leg is ripped to shreds."

Her alpha’s worry pulses from her in waves, Clarke can feel it like it’s her own.

"It's just some scratches, okay!?" She tries to calm her mate down, sending out reassuring pheromones. 

Seemingly satisfied for now that her mate is not deadly injured, Octavia looks at her hesitantly before she relents.

In the blink of an eye though Octavia is on the other hunters, her body vibrating with rage, her flaring alpha pheromones demanding everybody within a mile radius to submit.

"Why the fuck is my wife injured? Who is responsible for this?" She demands to know, her voice booming with the authority of Blodreina.

The five hunters have no chance against the alpha's dominance, they all kneel down, baring their throat, the two youngest trembling in fear.

The oldest of them and their leader, Otak, a burly beta guy, is the only one who dares to speak.

"It was an accident, Blodreina. A herd of wild boars stomped out of the woods, surprising us..."

"I don't want to hear excuses! My wife is hurt because the five of you weren't able to protect her! I'm going to..."

"Octavia, please, I just want to go home. I need some rest." Clarke interrupts her alpha, pleading silently and tentatively takes her hand.

Octavia instantly deflates and turns her attention back to Clarke.

"Oh, of course, anything you need. I'm going to bring you home." She offers Clarke her arm for support, so Clarke leans into her alpha’s side.

“You’re dismissed for now, but I expect a full report later.” Octavia says to the hunters before she leads Clarke away who is limping more distinctly now.

Out of the corner of her eyes Clarke sees the youngest of the hunters breaking down in relief. She looks over her shoulder and gives a short nod to Otak who silently thanks her.

 

 

At home Clarke undresses in their bathroom with her mate’s help before both of them inspect her wounds more thoroughly. Octavia also helps to clean them carefully with a wet cloth and alcohol.

After the assessment that the injuries are just bruises and a few flesh wounds which - albeit looking horrible - are not severe, Clarke feels the mood shift.

Unexpectedly Octavia’s anger flares up again and this time Clarke finds herself at the center of it. Climbing out of the bathtub, she sits down at a small stool and starts stitching up the largest one of her wounds on her left thigh as Octavia is pacing in front of her, fists clenched, jaw tight.

She barely hears the alpha muttering under her breath, speaking more to herself than anything.

“…of course… the mighty Wanheda… thinks she can take on a full grown radioactively mutated wild pig… and for what?… probably some fool who’s too dumb to move away from the 1000 pound boulder with tusks coming his way… what was she thinking… probably not thinking at all… idiots!... all of them…”

Clarke doesn’t say anything, just waits for Octavia to be done with her silent tirade and to actually address her.

 

She is almost halfway done when her mate finally shouts out, "a herd of boars, Clarke?! You have good reflexes, you're fast on your feed. I know you could have easily escaped them.”

Clarke opens her mouth to explain, but before she gets a word out, Octavia resumes her rant.  

“But let me guess, you just had to help one of them, get him out of harm’s way. I bet it was Kai, the idiot! I shouldn't have let him go with you in the first place, I knew he was too inexperienced for such a long hunting trip, no matter that he claims he comes from a long line of hunters." 

"It wasn't his fault, O. None of us saw the herd coming."

Internally she thinks, Octavia definitely knows her too well. 

Octavia stops in her tracks, pointing an accusatory finger at her. 

"And YOU! You always just have to put yourself in danger, don’t you? The great Wanheda, always sacrificing herself for others. As if your life isn’t as important as anyone else’s. As if you don’t have people who care for you, people who would be devastated if they lose you…”

With every word Octavia’s anger fades a little bit more until Clarke feels what’s behind it, the root of it.

Fear.

She hears it in the way the alpha’s voice almost cracks. She sees it in the way her hands tremble and the panicked look in her eyes.

Octavia is terrified of losing her.

“Octavia…” She says soflty.

“No, you have to listen, Clarke. You can’t do things like that anymore. What would we - what would Madi do without you? You have to be more careful and…”

“Octavia!” Clarke says more firmly. 

“What?”

She waits a moment till she has the brunette’s full attention and then regards her with a fond smile.

“Why don’t you just tell me that you love me?”

“Fine,” Octavia huffs indignantly, “I love you. Satisfied now?”

Clarke’s smile grows wider and without caring for her only half sutured wound she stands up, cups Octavia’s face gently and kisses her thoroughly.

She feels the alpha’s body relaxing against hers, anger and frustration leaving her mate’s soul. The fear lingers though, dimmed down but not gone. It probably never will be gone completely.

When their lips part, Octavia asks timidly, “So, would you please be more careful and try not to die on me?”

“I promise I’ll do my best to always come home to you and Madi.”

Clarke wants to soothe her alpha’s worry, wants to give her peace of mind, but that’s the best she can do. She has lived long enough in this dangerous world that she knows it’s not always that easy. Often enough things are simply out of their hands.

She is sure that Octavia is aware of that too, so she doesn’t hold back the next thought that’s on her mind. She has to know the answer.

“If anything happens to me though, will you take care of Madi?”

Octavia looks at her with big eyes. “You would want me to take care of Madi? Not Abby? Or…”

“You are her mother now too, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.” Octavia states firmly, her eyes glinting with unshed tears. “Of course I’ll take care of our daughter even when you’re gone. I love her with all my heart, and if I have to, I will love her for the both of us.”

“Thank you.”

She brushes away a wayward tear from her mate’s cheek before leaning in for another loving kiss.

 

~

 

Later that night, they lay in bed, cuddling. Sex has been off the table because of her wounds, but Clarke doesn’t mind. She is satisfied with just lying at her alpha’s side, her head on Octavia’s chest, Octavia’s arm around her back.

She is reveling in the feeling of her lover’s warm skin on hers and lets the steady rhythm of her mate’s heartbeat calm her mind.

It’s not too late at night, but it’s already dark apart from the moon shining in through the window. The sheet is halfway pulled up over their bodies and the bare skin of her alpha’s upper body is glistening in the pale moonlight.

Clarke’s fingers are tracing delicately over Octavia’s abdomen when suddenly there is a rough patch of skin under her fingertips. It’s a long, jagged scar.

Clarke is familiar with that scar, as she is with every other part of her mate’s body. She has seen and felt it a thousand times before, but she has never stopped to think about what the scar means.

“This is where Echo stabbed you and then you fell off that cliff, right? Before Praimfaya… when we were still trying to rebuild Arkadia to survive the radiation and Roan thought Skaikru had betrayed him...,” Clarke asks while continuing to trace a finger along the lines of the scar tissue.

Octavia’s voice is thick with sleep when she answers. “Yeah, I barely made it out alive. But I knew I had to reach Arkadia to warn you about the Azgeda attack.”

“You almost died that day. The blood loss and being in that cold river for so long... I don’t know how you even made it to Arkadia.”

“Yeah, me neither. But then you saved me. You did CPR.” Octavia lifts her head and kisses Clarke’s head lightly.

“Hmm… You were lucky that no major organs or blood vessels were hit. It’s almost like a miracle. Echo’s sword went through and through, right?”

“Yes, it did.” Octavia confirms.

“Realistically you should have bled out while in the water. Or died from the impact after the fall. Or drowned...”

“Jeez, Clarke, that’s pretty dark, listing all the ways I could have died. What’s this all about?”

Clarke turns a little so that she rolls more onto her side and tilts her head up to look Octavia in the eyes.

“Well, your scar and what happened today got me thinking about how we survived more dire situations than should be possible. And others didn’t…”

She looks away briefly, swallowing a bitter lump, willing away the excruciating pain that still comes with the memory of Lexa’s death, before she continues.

“I mean some of us get stabbed in the stomach and live, and others get shot in the stomach and die. It seems like…”

“Fate?” Octavia lifts an eyebrow.

“No, more like caprice.”

“Caprice of whom? The universe? Some kind of a higher being? God?” The alpha’s expression is getting more and more skeptical.

“You and I don’t believe in God or any form of higher being, but maybe we are wrong. Maybe there’s actually someone who writes the story of our lives.”

“And they decide what happens to us?”

“Yeah.”

Octavia leans her head back down on the pillow, staring at the ceiling while contemplating, “Well, they seem pretty inconsequent then. Because… our past has been the worst. I mean look at all that we’ve been through and especially how our loved ones were ripped away from us. But now… now everything is good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Maybe every now and then the one who writes our future changes. Maybe it was an asshole before and now it is someone who wants us to be happy.”

“That would be great. We have experienced enough shit already. I think we deserve to live the rest of our lives in peace and happiness.”

“Hmm, agreed.”

Clarke snuggles back into Octavia’s side and rests her head on the brunette’s shoulder.

 

She thinks their conversation is over and is almost drifting off to sleep when Octavia’s unusually frail voice breaks the silence.

“Would you prefer to have that with Lexa?”

“What?” Startled by the unexpected question, she lifts her head again, but Octavia avoids looking her in the eyes.

Regardless of her obvious discomfort, the alpha explains further. “If you could go back and talk to the … ahem… author of your life… If you could choose between her dying and me dying?”

“I wouldn’t want any of you to die.” Clarke quickly interjects. She can’t see this line of questioning going anywhere. She has dwelled on the what-ifs way too often during the early years after Lexa’s death. It only led to hurt and heartbreak.

But Octavia seems determined to not let it go.

“Ok, then we both would be alive. But we, you and I, wouldn’t be together then. If Lexa had lived, you would have stayed with her.”

“Yes, probably.” Even though she doesn’t want to hurt Octavia, she won’t lie. There’s no point anyway, they both know the truth.

Octavia nods slightly. “Ok, and what if she were to come back now?”

“You’re giving me a headache.” Clarke groans into the alpha’s shoulder.

Octavia pushes herself up and leans her back against the headboard, forcing Clarke to sit up as well.

“No, I mean it Clarke. If Lexa came back… like tomorrow…”

“Then… I don’t know.”

“Clarke, you know what you would do.” Octavia insists, so Clarke relents.

“I still love her. So, yeah, I would want to be with her. Sorry.”

She sees a flicker of hurt in her alpha’s eyes, followed by silent resignation.

“No, don’t be sorry. It’s okay. I love you, but… I would let you go. I would let you have a second chance with her. It would be incredibly hard for me, but I’d want you to be happy.”

“Hey,” she takes the brunette’s hand, intertwining their fingers, “I’m happy… here with you. So… I guess… if Lexa came back tomorrow I would want to be with the both of you.”

“Huh, greedy much?!” Octavia jokes, but Clarke can see that her answer took her by surprise, probably overwhelmed her.

However, lightening the mood is what they both need at the moment, so Clarke goes along with it.

“You said it’s my choice! So yeah, that’s what I would choose, both of you. Would you be willing to share?” She raises her eyebrow challengingly.

“You know I don’t see you as my property, but talking in the sense of partnership… I would be willing to share - as long as it meant I could still be with you, I would probably agree to anything. I don’t want to lose you.”

The heartfelt confession warms Clarke’s heart and with a teary smile she scoots forward and kisses her mate.

“I didn’t know you were such a sap,” she whispers between kisses, “but that’s very sweet of you.”

Octavia lays down again then, wrapping her arms around her. Half on top of her lover, Clarke sighs contently.

Closing her eyes, Clarke muses, “just so you know, if Lincoln came back tomorrow, I don’t know if I were willing to share you with Lincoln. I can be pretty possessive.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Octavia chuckles. “I thought you’d rip Niylah’s head off last time she flirted with me.”

“It would have been totally justified.”

“Sure.”

 

After a moment of silence in which Clarke just enjoys Octavia’s fingers playing with her hair, she announces, “you know, on a second thought, Lincoln was hot. I think I could be persuaded to invite him into our bed.”

“You mean you would be ok with all three of us being together?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“I don’t know if that would work with you, me and Lexa.”

“Oh, I think it would work for me just fine…” She grins against Octavia’s skin.

“Clarke!” Octavia slabs her shoulder lightly.

“What?” Clarke lifts her head, smirk still firmly in place. “I can think of worse things than to share my bed with two hot alphas.”

“Provided that Lexa wouldn’t kill me first...” Octavia points out, her tone skeptical.

“I could persuade her.” Clarke shrugs.

“You had her wrapped around your finger, didn’t you?”

“Hmm, just like I have you wrapped around my finger.” She kisses the sensitive skin above her lover’s collarbone, sending a shiver through Octavia’s body.

“True.” Octavia hums.

“Octavia?” Clarke rests her chin on her mate’s chest, looking her deep into the eyes.

“Yes?”

“With things the way they are now, I don’t think I would be able to choose between you and her. All playfulness aside, I meant it when I said that I’d choose you both. Sure, only a few months ago the choice would have been clear and easy, but now you are anything but the second choice…”

“Clarke, what are you saying?” Octavia whispers.

“I’m saying that I love you too.”

 

 

 

~

 

 

When Clarke wakes up in the morning, she feels sick. She barely makes it to one of the buckets in the bathroom before she empties her stomach’s content.

Afterwards she cleans herself up, contemplating what’s causing her nausea. It’s the third time in the last two weeks that she woke up feeling sick.

But there’s something more, she also feels different, like she’s not her usual self. When she looks into the mirror though, the same familiar face looks back at her.

In the back of her mind a small voice whispers to her that she has been through something like that before, exactly one time.

As soon as she comes back from the bathroom, her mate asks concerned, “Clarke, are you okay?”

“I don’t know… Do I smell different to you?”

Octavia takes her hand and pulls her closer to her, before she leans in and sniffs at her neck a few times.

“Hmm, yeah, I think so. Your scent has changed a little bit. Oh my God, are you sick? What’s going on?”

“No, I’m not sick. I… I think I’m pregnant.”

 

 

 

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we go… ;) 
> 
> I would love to hear from you in the comments. 
> 
> Next chapter is probably going to be up around Christmas (maybe a few days before, maybe a few days after… depending on how much time I can spare for writing till then).


	12. Miracle Of Life - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter is divided into two parts again, because a) I haven't finished the second part yet but didn't want to keep you waiting for an update any longer and b) the first part happens all in one day whereas the second part has some minor time jumps. 
> 
> Similar to the last chapter this one is all fluff. I'll try to add some smut in the next chapter, I just haven't been in the mood to write smut lately. I'm sorry and hope you'll still enjoy the story.

 

 

_“No, I’m not sick. I… I think I’m pregnant.”_

 

For a moment Octavia freezes after hearing Clarke’s announcement. She doesn’t even blink.

So Clarke reaches out carefully and touches her mate’s cheek, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “O?”

A sharp intake of breath tells her that the alpha has at least started breathing again.

“Hey baby, are you ok?” She asks tentatively.

Octavia looks at her with wide eyes, almost yelling, “Am I ok? Clarke, you are pregnant! The question is, are you ok?”

“Might be pregnant, and yes, I’m fine.”

“We have to get you to the clinic! We have to see Abby. Don’t worry, honey, she’ll know what to do. She’s a doctor!”

“Octavia, did you not hear what I just said? I’m fine. It’s not like I’m dying or anything.”

She doesn’t know if she’s amused or slightly annoyed by her mate’s panicked reaction, but she really wishes Octavia would calm down. Her alpha’s nervousness is infectious, and Clarke already feels a bit dizzy.

“Why don’t you go and see if Madi is already awake? I’ll make us some breakfast. We can go to the clinic afterwards, ok?”

 

It’s to no avail.

Octavia drags her to the clinic before Clarke even has the chance to get dressed properly. She also has no time to point out that the alpha is only wearing one shoe.

Even though they are quite early, thankfully Abby is already at the clinic, taking stock of the medical supplies when they arrive.

The older woman looks taken aback by their disheveled state. “Clarke? Octavia? Is everything ok?”

“It’s fine, mom, we are just here to…”

“Clarke thinks she’s pregnant!” Octavia blurts out before the omega can complete her sentence.

After a second of stunned silence, the corners of Abby’s lips curve up into a small smile and she gestures for Clarke to lie down on the examination cot.

“Well, let’s see if you’re right then. I’m going to do an ultrasound.”

So Clarke lies back on the cot while Abby starts the ultrasound machine. The ultrasound gel is a cold on her stomach but at that moment Clarke doesn’t even notice.

Octavia holds her hand, standing on the other side of the cot, hips pressed against it to be as close as possible to Clarke.

She can feel the nervousness radiating of her mate in shaky waves, or maybe it’s her own jittery anticipation. It’s hard to tell.

With practiced ease Abby moves the transducer probe over her abdomen while all eyes are on the screen of the ultrasound machine. It doesn’t take long till she finds what Clarke expected.

A heartbeat, small but strong, is fluttering on the screen much faster than the one of an adult, accompanied by a rhythmic, rushing pulse when Abby activates the Doppler signal.

“Congratulations, you are pregnant. I’d say you’re at eight weeks.” Abby proclaims, the concentration on her face giving way to a sincere smile.

Octavia who Clarke knows has been holding her breath since Abby started her examination exhales slowly, letting out all the air in her lungs with a whispered “Oh my God…”

Clarke smiles brightly at the look of pure wonder on her mate’s face. Tears are forming at the corner of her sparkling green eyes which are still focused on their child’s heartbeat displayed in shades of gray on the monitor. She brings Octavia’s hand to her lips and kisses her knuckles softly, causing her alpha to look away from the screen and regard her with a wet smile.

“You are pregnant, Clarke!” Octavia exclaims as if it only becomes true when she says it out loud herself.

“I know, baby, we are having a child.” Clarke answers, her voice husky, tears of joy rolling down her own cheeks too.

She hasn’t spent too much thought on it before, but now Clarke realizes that this is what she wants, - another child, a sibling for Madi, maybe more.

 

 

When everyone has calmed down a little bit, Abby continues with the examination. She measures the embryo, records the heartbeat, makes sure it is positioned correctly in the uterus, but then she abruptly stops all her movements.

Alarmed Clarke looks between her mother and the screen.

There is a slight frown on Abby’s face that worries Clarke immediately. For a few minutes that feel like an eternity Abby doesn’t say anything, she just adjusts the transducer probe again and again, sliding it back and forth.

Beside her, Clarke feels Octavia growing anxious, probably having caught up on the tense atmosphere.

Her mind is reeling. Considering the high levels of radiation she was exposed to, there are so many things that could be wrong with their unborn child.

“Abby? Is something wrong?” She tries to keep the fear out of her voice, but it still sounds wobbly.

Her mother doesn’t answer right away, too concentrated on the ultrasound images. Clarke’s gaze is fixed on the screen as well, as she tries to see what her mother sees.

Like it was previously shown, there is a tiny heart, beating strongly. Then the image moves along with the transducer, everything becoming slightly grainy and blurry, before it shows a tiny heart again.  

Realization hits her a second before Abby announces what she has found.

“There are two heartbeats, two hearts, two...”

The doctor is interrupted by Octavia who by now looks worried sick, “What does that mean? Why does our baby have two hearts? Is it some kind of mutation because of the radiation?”

“No.” Clarke strokes Octavia’s shaking hand soothingly. She waits till her alpha looks at her before she gives her an encouraging smile. “It means there are two babies.”

“W-What? How? - What?” Octavia stutters, looking completely perplexed.

“Clarke is pregnant with twins. Dizygotic twins by the look of it.” Abby explains while starting to record the measurements and position of the second embryo.

Octavia looks a little pale and Clarke worries that she might faint or something, but suddenly the brunette is kissing her with an intensity that makes her heart flutter and her mind go numb.

“We are having twins! Can you believe that?!” Octavia mumbles against her lips in between kisses.

Clarke can’t find the words to describe the whirlwind of emotions that make her soul fly, so she just laughs, not even caring that their teeth clack together when Octavia kisses her again.

 

A little bit later they leave the clinic, both beaming with happiness.

 

 

~

 

 

At home they wake up Madi. The little girl reluctantly opens her eyes when Clarke gently brushes her knuckles over her cheek.

“Hey, love, wake up. We have big news.”

Yawning and pulling the bed sheet over her head, Madi mumbles, “just a little bit longer, mom.”

Clarke looks at Octavia who sits on the other side of the bed, already grinning mischievously. They share a small nod before they both dive forward, screaming “tickle monster!” and start tickling the small bundle.

Madi giggles and squeals and flails around in a poor attempt to protect her sensitive spots. Laughing, Clarke and Octavia tickle her till they are all out of breath and Madi begs them to stop.

Breathlessly all three of them lie sprawled out on the bed, big smiles on their faces.

“So, now that you’re awake, little pauna, do you want to know the surprise?” Clarke asks her daughter.

Sitting up, the girl looks at them expectantly. “Yeah, mommy, I want to know the surprise!”

“I’m pregnant with twins, babygirl. That means two little babies are growing in mommy’s belly until they are big enough to come out. And then our family is going to be so much bigger.”

Madi tilts her head and furrows her brow, seemingly contemplating the news.

“You are going to have two little brothers or sisters, Madi, isn’t that great?” Octavia chimes in.

This conjures a smile on the nearly six years old’s face. “I’m going to be a big sister?”

“Yeah, baby,” Clarke brushes a hand over her daughter’s disheveled hair, “You are going to be a big sister.”

Leaning down to bring her mouth close to Clarke’s belly, Madi whispers, “hey you two in there, I’m Madi and I’m your big sister and I promise I’m going to be the best big sister in the whole world.”

Clarke can feel tears prickling at the back of her eyes and when she looks at Octavia the alpha doesn’t fare any better. She kisses her daughters head, whispering, “I love you, babygirl.”

Holding Madi close to her chest, she reaches out to grab Octavia’s hand and pulls her on top of them. Octavia only just braces herself, but then Clarke wraps her hand around her neck and presses their lips together in a short, wet kiss, causing the brunette to lose her balance and her whole body falling down on them.

Almost squished in between the two adults Madi giggles. “I love you too, mommy. And I love you too, O.”

When Octavia rolls onto her side, Clarke sees her lower lip trembling and a fresh set of tears rolling down her cheeks. “I love you too, Madi.” The alpha says, her voice slightly hoarse.

Clarke’s heart is so full with love for her family, she thinks it might burst any minute.

Their eyes meeting, she silently mouthes “I love you” to Octavia and brushes the tears away from her mate’s cheeks.

“Ok, who wants breakfast? Mommy has to eat for three now.” Clarke cheerily exclaims, deliberately putting an end to the emotional moment, afraid they’ll all dissolve into a puddle of happy tears if this love fest continues any longer.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

The news spread like wildfire.

 

It starts when Clarke brings Madi to Harper who has established some kind of daycare slash school in her and Monty’s house.

 

Monty doesn’t need the space as he works mostly out of the large barn behind their house or is out in the fields or in the greenhouses anyway. So, two rooms were remodeled into classrooms, one for the younger children and one for the older ones. The meadow on the left side of the house - the one that faces away from the center of the village - became a makeshift playground. The parents and many others helped building it up and continue to provide the utensils needed for the school. It’s a community project, one that Clarke wholeheartedly supports and has spent days planning with Harper.

All in all the daycare facility is not that big, but so far it is big enough for the children of Wonkru. Most importantly the kids love being there, and Harper loves having them there and teaching them.

She teaches the older ones to read and write and a little bit of math while the younger ones play or take a nap. During the time the older children exercise their writing or reading by themselves, Harper concentrates on the younger ones, doing arts and crafts with them or singing and dancing or some kind of team sport. And of course sometimes they all play together.

Lunch for the kids is provided by Callahan, one of Diyoza’s men who had been a cook in the army before he was imprisoned for treason and forced to work for Eligius. He has opened a small tavern in the middle of the village and with time he became famous amongst wonkru for his diverse and delicious maggot dishes. In exchange for his services to the school, he gets fresh vegetables and maggots from Monty’s farms for free.

Some days Indra sends one of the peacekeepers over to the school to teach the older kids some self-defense and even train those whose parents gave their consent in hand-to-hand combat.

On other days Otak comes and teaches them about not only hunting and fishing, but most of all about the animals themselves. Or Monty shows them plants and fruits and explains how to grow them. Sometimes he lets the kids do some gardening in the small vegetable garden in front of the house.

Most of all the kids love the rare days when Raven takes time off her busy schedule and visits them. It usually starts out harmless with Raven teaching them about gravity or mechanics or electricity or the basics of chemistry. It always ends with some sort of explosion and the eyes of the children shining in delight at the sight of the spectacle. On these days the children talk excitedly about the things Raven has blown up this time long after their parents picked them up from school.

 

On the day of Clarke finding out about her pregnancy, she hasn’t even greeted Harper yet when Madi runs over to her friends and shouts eagerly for everyone to hear (including the other parents), “I’m going to be a big sister soon! I’m going to have two siblings!”

Octavia and Clarke might have agreed on not telling people yet, but as it turns out Madi had other plans. It’s really her own fault, Clarke thinks. She only told her daughter not to tell others that she is pregnant, she didn’t explicitly ask her not to mention that Madi is going to get siblings. So, really, she should have seen that coming, logic of a child and all.

Clarke can see the exact moment when the words register on Harper’s face as her jaw drops and she looks at Clarke with wide eyes. Seconds later she’s engulfed in a hug, the blonde congratulating her on her pregnancy. It’s sweet how Harper is so excited and happy for her. But it’s still early in the pregnancy, a lot of things can happen till she gives birth and she says as much to her friend. Of course the optimistic soul that she is, Harper tells her everything will be fine.

 

 

Clarke spends her morning in meetings. The first is with Zodac who Raven has put in charge of overseeing the manufacturing of the aqueducts. He gives her a detailed report of their progress. In conclusion he estimates that they will be done with the segment that goes from the mountain foot to the village in about half a year, but the part up the mountain to the top may take another two years, seeing that the unpredictable weather conditions and difficult access paths, especially when it comes to moving the equipment, complicate the work up there on high grounds.

She encourages him that having running water in all houses will be worth the hard work and thanks him for his and his worker’s efforts.

In her second meeting of the day she has to argue with Gaia about allowing her followers to take half a day off each week to gather and worship. Clarke really wishes that after all these months Gaia would have found another way to utilize her talents than leading a cult. At least the numbers of the Flame’s followers have significantly decreased since wonkru started to live in the valley.

Everyone can believe in whatever they want, but Clarke insists that it shouldn’t interfere with work. In the end Clarke tells Gaia that her followers will just have to do their worshipping in the evening or their free time as they are doing now.

 

When lunchtime comes around, Clarke takes a break, already hungry again - even after a rather extensive breakfast. She was only kidding about eating for three now, but maybe there’s a truth to that, she thinks as her stomach grumbles.

She encounters the first weird looks while making her way to the market place. Arriving at the stall that serves grilled fish and vegetables, she hears whispers about a miracle pregnancy.

Standing by the side and waiting for her meal, she overhears two older, formerly Trishanakru women talking about how a pregnancy with twins hasn’t occurred for as long as they can remember. According to them it clearly must be a sign that Blodreina and Wanheda are powerful beings, blessed by the ancient Gods of Mother Earth who give the gift of fertility to the land and its creatures.

Having heard enough, Clarke clears her throat to make herself known. Startled, the two women look at her with a mix of awe and fear before they bow before her and then quickly scramble away. Clarke finds the whole encounter rather ridiculous, but unfortunately it’s not the only one of its kind.

The rest of the day she’s always looked at like she is some rare mystical creature. What’s even more annoying is that people seem to have no other topic than the twins in her uterus.

 

 

Irritated she meets with her wife on the training fields of the peacekeepers in the afternoon. A few days ago they arranged to train with the peacekeepers, but with the new knowledge of her pregnancy Clarke is content with watching her alpha fight.

Octavia arrives there at the same time as her, and suddenly all eyes are on them, the warriors kneeling until Blodreina tells them to stand up. Her mate seems rather oblivious to what is going on, even as - other than usual - none of the fighters volunteers to train with her. After some awkward moments where it seems like the peacekeepers are going to lay down their weapons and call it a day, Echo steps forward with a no nonsense attitude - which Clarke is thankful for - and orders one of the older warriors to train with Blodreina.

To his credit he doesn’t hesitate to follow the order and gets onto the training field, taking a fighting stance. After some light sparring to warm up, they really get into it, trading hard blows and kicks. It doesn’t take long until Octavia has pinned her opponent down to the ground, asking for the next.

After the second fight, Octavia takes her leather vest off and is left in a tank top, the fabric clinging to her torso showing the outline of her six-pack, the impressive muscles of her arms and shoulders rippling and dancing, a light sheen of sweat on her skin.

When she grins at Clarke after the defeat of yet another warrior, a droplet of sweat making its way from her temple down the column of her throat to her sternum before it disappears in the valley between her breasts, Clarke is convinced that the others are right and her mate truly is some kind of a sex goddess.

Her mouth dry and her panties wet, she signals Octavia to finish up.

After the alpha has gathered her things she strolls over to Clarke in all her sweaty glory and kisses her on the cheek. Judging by the confident smirk Octavia is sporting, she knows exactly what she is doing to Clarke. It only makes her more attractive and the omega wants nothing more than to take her home and fuck her senseless.

Their retreat is interrupted by Indra though who comes over to greet them.

“Blodreina. Reinatu.” She bows her head shortly. “I heard congratulations are in order.”

Octavia seems confused, she probably doesn’t know that by now pretty much everyone knows about the pregnancy. So Clarke answers, “Yes, thank you, Indra. It came as a surprise to us too, a pleasant one of course.”

“Surprise? People already talk about nothing short of a miracle. Twins, that’s quite unheard of. Even before Praimfaya nobody I know has ever seen it or heard about it. And now afterwards even a pregnancy with one child is a small miracle. It surely takes a special kind of fertility to achieve something like a multiple pregnancy.”

Along with Indra’s words Clarke notices Octavia standing taller and puffing her chest.

“Of course, we are really proud. Though we want to wait with any celebrations till the children are born.” Clarke indicates.

“I understand. Well, I’m looking forward to that day then.”

 

 

On their way home, walking past the peacekeepers that have gathered along the training field, then through the village and across the market place, it’s the same as it has been the whole day, people are gazing at them and bowing their heads in awe.

Now that Octavia has caught on, she strides more than she walks, her head held high. The alpha almost seems to burst with pride.

Knowing about the insecurities about her sex that her own bigoted brother inflicted in Octavia, Clarke is more than happy to let her alpha have this moment.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

This night Clarke is insatiable. She worships every part of her alpha’s body with her hands and lips and tongue until her mate is trembling and writhing underneath her in ecstasy.

When Octavia returns the favor, making her fall over the edge again and again and again until their essences melt together, burning in the hot white light of pure pleasure, Clarke actually feels like a goddess ascending to a higher level of being.  

 

 

Despite her exhausted state after their extensive love making, Clarke wakes up in the middle of the night. At first she wonders what it was that disturbed her sleep, but then she feels and hears Octavia beside her tossing and turning restlessly.

“Baby? Can't sleep?" She whispers.

"Yeah." Is all she gets as an answer before it is quiet again.

Figuring that Octavia doesn’t want to talk about it, Clarke turns around and closes her eyes, trying to get back to sleep.

After a moment there’s more rustling and her mate huffing into her pillow.

Clarke turns around again, searching for Octavia’s arm in the darkness. "Ok, seriously, tell me what's going on?"

"Twins! We are having twins, Clarke!" Octavia whisper shouts.

"I know! I've been there today."

She wonders what this is all about, Octavia has been so happy all day.

"I... it's just... twins..." The alpha’s voice is small and even trembles a little bit, so Clarke rubs soothing circles on her mate’s skin and chooses a lighter tone for her next words.

"Yeah, we've already established that."

"That means two tiny little humans, not one, two!" Octavia points out as if only realizing that now.

"Hmm." She just wants to get back to sleep. She is really worn out after the excitement of the day and the activities of the night, so she sends out calming pheromones and scoots closer to her alpha, hoping to get her to relax.

"Clarke!" Octavia shakes her by her shoulder till she opens her eyes again.

"What?" Clarke huffs.

They are so close now that even in the dark she can see Octavia staring at her with wide eyes.

"How can you be so calm about that? There are two tiny humans in your belly, and soon they will be out here in the big, dangerous world, and we have to protect them. I have to protect them! I mean they're tiny and... and babies! And what if I can't?" Octavia is edging on panic now.

"O, will you please calm down? You're going to be a great parent. You're so good with Madi..."

"But Clarke, they are going to be so much tinier!"

"At the beginning, but they grow up so fast, you'll see."

It doesn’t have the desired effect. Instead of calming down and going back to sleep, Octavia gets out of bed, lights the small oil lamp on their nightstand and starts putting her shoes on.

Sitting up, Clarke stares at her alpha unbelievingly. "What are you doing?"

"The babies need a crib. We don't have one, Clarke! I'm gonna build one." Octavia gesticulates wildly.

"It's the middle of the night. Come back to bed."

"But Clarke, we have to be prepared. We have to get everything ready."

Clarke skids forward on her knees to the edge of the bed and hooks her fingers into the waistband of Octavia’s sleeping shorts to pull her closer. Octavia lets her with minimal resistance, her lips formed into a small pout.

Cupping her mate’s face with both hands, she looks her in the eyes and says firmly, "Octavia, they won't be born for another seven months. We have enough time to prepare."

"But Clarke!" Octavia protests.

As endearing as her alpha’s concern is, Clarke has had enough. "No, come back to bed now."

With a final huff Octavia gets her shoes off again and lays back down.

Satisfied Clarke's cuddles into her mate’s side and pulls the bed sheet over their bodies.

"Don't worry, baby. Everything will be fine.” She mumbles into the crook of Octavia’s neck before she falls asleep again, a content smile on her face.

 

 

 

 

~ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> I hope I'll be able to post the next chapter in about 3 weeks or at the latest at the end of January. Fingers crossed. ;)


	13. Miracle Of Life - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I’m almost too late with this update (I was sick last weekend which was also my only free weekend, so writing and editing has been slower than usual), but it’s still January, so…  
> Please, accept this 6k chapter as my apology for letting you wait so long. Enjoy!

 

 

After her nocturnal freak out Octavia seems to be back to normal, but Clarke senses that she is still concerned. Even though the alpha doesn’t say anything, it’s obvious in her actions.

 

On the one hand Clarke appreciates that her wife shows her that she cares.

For example Octavia now always makes sure that Clarke doesn’t miss a meal and eats well, even going so far as to end or postpone a meeting to have lunch with her. Sometimes she sends Cooper to get fresh vegetables and maggots directly from Monty’s farm instead of the market place or fish directly pulled out of the river. She also takes Clarke’s uneasiness towards certain kinds of food that occur mainly during the first trimester into consideration. So, it happens that they only have tea and dry bread for breakfast for a whole week, because Clarke can’t keep anything else down.

Furthermore the young leader makes it a point to transfer the meetings that she knows Clarke dislikes to her own schedule, like the repetitive requests from Gaia.

 

On the other hand there’s Octavia’s ~~mild~~ obsession with security, which Clarke could do without.

Over the last few months Clarke has come to think that they don’t really need their personal guards anymore. It’s not that they bother her. Miller and his small crew do a good job at being unobtrusive. They know how to keep enough distance to maintain a feeling of privacy for Clarke and Octavia, and at the same time stay near enough so that they can intervene quickly in case of an attack. Two of the guards also keep an eye on Madi during the time she is not with one of her moms, for example when she is in daycare.

But things have been peaceful lately and nobody seems to be distrustful or even hateful against Blodreina and her family anymore. The anxiety Clarke was suffering from after Bellamy’s assault is as good as gone, and all in all she has never felt safer since coming down to earth than nowadays. A few weeks ago she already downsized her personal detail from two to one, but she’s ready to go without them.

Furthermore she reckons that there are more important things to do for their guards. With all that is build and crafted there’s a shortage of workers in nearly every field.

When she talks to her wife about assigning their personal guards to other tasks the week after they found out about her pregnancy though, Octavia nearly has a heart attack over Clarke’s suggestion and her “blatant disregard for her personal safety”.

In the end it’s determined that Clarke is going to walk around with three instead of one bodyguard from now on.

“One for each soul inside me?” She makes light of the situation. Knowing there’s no way to sway her overprotective mate, she at least gets to tease her a bit.

“Two guards to defend you and one to get help!” Octavia explains indignantly.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

A few days after the great pregnancy reveal Echo comes by first thing in the morning. Clarke invites her to have breakfast with them, although she is a little bit surprised by the sullen look on the other omega’s face. She has come to think of Echo as a close friend, so she wonders if she did something wrong when Echo declines the invitation.

She doesn’t have to wonder for long.

Standing a little bit awkwardly on the doorstep Echo sighs heavily before she reveals what’s on her mind.

"Clarke, would you please go and tell Raven about your pregnancy? Cause right now, I have a moping girlfriend at home, complaining about how her best friend not only didn’t tell her before anyone else that she is pregnant with twins but also didn't even care to tell her in person."

And okay, Echo might have a point there. A talk about this significant, new development in her life with her best friend is long overdue. Clarke feels instantly guilty that she hasn’t even thought about it, but to her defense a lot has been going on in the last few days and everybody seemed to already know.

“I’m sorry. I’ll talk to her.” Clarke answers sheepishly.

“I’m not the one you should apologize to.” Echo remarks, and already turning around to leave she adds quietly, “Please, do it today. I think there’s more to it. Something is bothering her, but she doesn’t talk to me about it. Maybe she’ll open up to you. And I… I just really want to see her happy again.”

 

 

Spurred by her guilt Clarke leaves immediately after breakfast.

She can hear Raven hammering on some kind of metal object long before she rounds her friend’s house and actually sees her at her outside work bench in the backyard.

Raven stands with her front to her, but with all the noise Clarke is not sure if she noticed her. The mechanic just keeps on hammering which gives Clarke no chance to announce herself. Keeping her distance she contemplates how to make herself known. She doesn’t want to startle Raven or worse get hit by that hammer accidentally.

Raven must have seen her though, because she suddenly shouts in between strikes, “I had to hear it from Murphy of all people, Clarke! You know how he gets with his stupid, know-it-all smirk.”

“I’m sorry, Raven!” She shouts back as loud as she can.

At least Raven stops then and sets the hammer down.

“I’m really sorry,” Clarke repeats while slowly approaching her disgruntled friend, “I know I should have told you, but we were so overwhelmed at first, and we wanted to wait till we tell people, but then Madi let it slip at school and suddenly everybody knew…”

Taking her safety goggles off, the dark haired woman throws her an accusatory look.

“I should have been the first one to know!”

Clarke raises an eyebrow in lieu of dignifying that with a verbal response.

“Okay, okay, maybe the second one after your wife.” Raven grumbles before she starts polishing the… metal thingy - Clarke really can’t fathom what it is or what it is good for, but she’s not the mechanics genius here.

She watches her friend who is seemingly concentrating on her task. Something is off though, it’s clear in the way her shoulders slump and how her movements are not as smooth and effortlessly precise as usual.

She decides to use the direct approach.

"So, are you going to tell me what this is really about?"

It doesn’t look like Raven is going to answer her at first. She just keeps working, but Clarke can see her head is somewhere else. She decides to not prod anymore, to give her friend some time.

 

Her patience pays off when after a little while Raven looks at her and asks with uncertainty clear in her voice, "Do you think I will ever be a mom?"

The question catches Clarke by surprise.

"I didn't know that's something you wanted."

With a heavy sigh Raven sits down on the stool behind her and begins fiddling with some of the metal chips that are strewn out on the work bench.

"I didn't know either, but teaching the kids in school every now and then is great, I love it..."

"Yeah, the kids love you too. You're really good with them. Madi can't stop gushing about her aunt Rae every time you hold classes." Clarke can’t help but smile at the thought of her daughter enthusiastically babbling about the things she learned in school.

"Thanks.” Raven smiles at her, but looks down almost shyly before continuing.  “So, lately I've been thinking about having a kid of my own... especially now that I'm with Echo. I… I can't stop thinking about having a family with her."

"Raven, that’s great and you deserve all the happiness in the world, but I also think you should talk to her about it."

"I know I should. I want to ask her if she wants to get bonded with me and have kids with me... but, I'm afraid I'm moving too fast. It's too much too soon, right?"

"I don't know, but I can see how much you love her and how much she loves you. Just be honest and tell her about your wishes. Maybe she wants the same, maybe she doesn't. But if you don't ask her you'll never know."

"Ok, yeah, I’ll do that." The beta mumbles, cleaning the bench absentmindedly.  "Do you think Echo would want to be the one to get pregnant? Because I’m not sure if I could even carry a child - with my spine injury and all.”

“Hmm, why don’t you ask my mother about it at your next checkup? I’m sure she can help you.” Clarke says while handing Raven the bucket from under the work bench that is used to collect the rubbish.

“Yeah, I’d also have to talk to Abby about artificial insemination and stuff. I mean, it’s easy for you with your sperminator alpha, you just let her stick it in and then see if it takes.”

“Raven! How dare you talk like that about the act of love that gave us the gift of our yet unborn children?” Clarke says in mock indignation with a flourishing hand gesture to her belly, causing Raven to cackle at her exuberance.  

 

After cleaning up her work place, Raven collects her tools and the weird metal contraption that she made and gestures for Clarke to follow her back to the house.

Inside Raven puts her stuff away while Clarke goes into the kitchen to make them some tea.

The water is just beginning to boil when Raven joins her again.

“Seriously though, it’s so much harder to procreate for partnerships without an alpha or male beta. Adoption is not really an option as there are no children nowadays who are not cared for. Even the ones whose parents died in Praimfaya or during the years in the bunker have already found a new family - which is great, of course. But it also means that if Echo and I want to try to get pregnant we will need a sperm donor... Uh, do you think Abby would give us her baby juice? It seems to be good stuff. I mean you turned out alright."

"First, thank you and second, ugh! Don't talk about my mother in that context in front of me ever again."

Laughing, Raven takes the mugs from the shelf and nudges Clarke’s shoulder playfully before she sets them down on the counter.

“I forgot to tell you before… I’m really happy for you and O, you know. These kids are so lucky because they are going to have the best parents and the best big sister anyone could hope for.”

“Thanks.” Clarke smiles brightly at her friend.

“Now tell me how much our fearless leader freaked out when you got the news!” Raven adds, winking mischievously.

Clarke laughs out loud before indulging her friend and recounting the events.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

It seems to be a normal day. They’ve been living in the valley for almost seven months. Clarke has just entered her second trimester, having left the morning sickness of the first three months behind she feels well.

But it’s not a normal day, it’s Madi’s birthday and that’s always a special day for Clarke too.

It’s on the day six years ago that she got her belief in miracles back. It’s the anniversary of the day her broken heart began to heal.

It’s the day that she realized when holding her daughter in her arms for the first time that even after the love of her life had been gone, she had still more love to give.

 

In the years after Madi’s birth Clarke has established a tradition for them to celebrate that day. She tells Octavia about it a few days before, and as expected her mate is supportive.

So in the morning of Madi’s sixth birthday they go to a place Clarke hasn’t been to since Diyoza’s crew landed on earth.

It’s a small clearing in the forest not too far away from the village, but hidden in a not so easy accessible part of the thick forest where heavy rock formations can only be crossed if you find the small alcove that leads to a narrow passage. Clarke found the clearing while chasing after a deer on one of her hunts so many years ago, and it’s been a special place for her ever since.

The rays of the morning sun shine brightly into the opening, coloring the fresh grass a rich green. In the middle of the clearing they planted a tree when Madi turned two. It became a memorial for Lexa kom Trikru, Heda of the coalition of the thirteen clans, and most importantly beloved mate and sire.

 

Every year on Madi’s birthday they go there as Clarke wants Madi to have a place where she can connect with her other mother. She encourages her daughter to talk to Lexa as if she was there.

Even though she hasn’t in a while, usually Clarke also comes to the clearing alone every few months when she wants to be near Lexa, it’s like she can feel Lexa’s presence there.

This year Octavia accompanies them like Clarke asked her to. She doesn’t feel like she has to keep this a secret from Octavia, because she’s certain that her new mate respects her feelings for her former mate. On the contrary she really wants to share this place with Octavia as the alpha now belongs to their family too. It doesn’t mean that her wife will come with them every time, but on this day Clarke’s past and future are going to unite in a quiet clearing at the edge of civilization.

 

They brought a blanket and a basket with some food in order to have a picnic, but before they settle down near the small tree, Octavia asks Clarke to give her a minute alone at Lexa’s memorial tree.

So Clarke stays at the edge of the clearing with Madi and watches as Octavia walks through the grass seemingly deep in thought. Reaching the middle of the opening, the alpha goes down on one knee in front of the tree. She doesn’t hear what Octavia says, the rustling of the trees around her louder than the alpha’s silent speech.

When Octavia stands up again and looks at Clarke with a small smile on her face, Clarke and Madi join her.

Giving in to the urge to kiss her mate Clarke surprisingly finds Octavia’s lips wet and salty from tears. Instead of commenting on it or asking Octavia what she said to Lexa, Clarke just brushes her thumbs gently over Octavia’s closed eyes and kisses her on the forehead.

Their moment is interrupted by Madi tugging at Clarke’s shirt, “Can we light the candles for mama now?”

They brought three candles, one from each of them. Clarke takes them out of the basket, handing one to Madi and one to Octavia and after lighting the candles they set them on a flat stone near the tree.

Next Clarke pulls out the blanket and the food and they sit down and have breakfast together. While they eat, Madi tells Lexa about her year and all the adventures. It’s a longer report than in the last few years and the food is gone long before Madi finishes.

 

When all is said and done Octavia brings Madi home. Clarke stays because she wants some time with Lexa alone.

Sitting in front of the tree, watching the flames of the candles flickering in the light breeze, Clarke takes her time.

She closes her eyes.

It takes her no effort to imagine Lexa sitting in front of her, her late mate is so deeply ingrained in her soul that her reflection can be found in every part of Clarke’s mind.

She doesn’t really need this memorial to think about Lexa or to talk to her, it’s something she’s able to do wherever she is. Still, the peaceful clearing with the rustling of the leaves and the fresh smell of the forest seems to always trigger the memories of Lexa so much easier.

She treasures these memories, lets them play before her inner eye like movie scenes. She smiles and laughs and cries, gets excited, angry, turned on, desperate, the pictures and emotions running together to one single entity, Lexa. Her love washes over Clarke, through her, and she waits. She waits until the echo of the last waves subsides.

It’s only then that she is able to clear her mind again and gather her thoughts. Thinking about herself has never come easy to Clarke, but she knows it’s important.

Since Octavia and her have been bonded, she hasn’t had time to dwell much on her private life or how her future could look like. She didn’t expect falling in love with Octavia, and being loved back was more than she had hoped for. The rough start of their marriage certainly didn’t leave much space for love and hope. But now after all that they have already accomplished - in their relationship as well as for their people, everything seems possible. Maybe she really could have it all, a good life with a big family, a fulfilling job in a society that’s build on solidarity, sympathy and treasuring life.

She thinks about her pregnancy, how happy she is. She hopes Lexa is happy for her too - deep down she knows she is. Acknowledging how much she still misses her and that she will always love her is easy, what is hard is the realization that it’s time to let go of the part of her that always dreamed of a life with Lexa.

There are so many new dreams now, and although she hasn’t dared to dream about her future much, considering the constant threats to her life, she knows she won’t be able to stop dreaming from now on. Most importantly she knows she will do everything in her power to make those dreams come true. She is going to do it not only for herself, but for her daughter and her unborn children.

For the first time in a long time the future looks bright and promising and Clarke feels ready for whatever may come.

She leaves Lexa’s memorial with a light heart and full of hope this day.

 

 

 

In the evening they have a small birthday party in form of a dinner with family and close friends. They talk and laugh and naturally Madi is the center of attention.

Birthday celebrations weren’t a thing in grounder culture and back on the Ark your age was only documented to determine which laws applied to you and what your worth for society was.

Octavia insisted on getting Madi a present though, because she remembered reading in a book how birthdays were celebrated in the old world.

Clarke agreed easily. She likes the notion of the day you were born being the reason for getting celebrated, that no matter what you have accomplished, people are happy that you live.

As for the nature of the present, Clarke had to veto Octavia’s first idea of giving Madi her first sword with a firm “absolutely not”.

In the end Octavia crafted a beautiful fishing rod in a kid-friendly size, together with a colorful assortment of different baits.

Their daughter squeals with joy when she gets the gift and is even more excited by Octavia’s promise to teach her how to fish.

 

Hours later when they finally manage to get the giddy girl into bed, Madi still smiles brightly.

“This was the best birthday ever, moms.”

Kissing their daughter goodnight, Clarke believes seeing her so carefree and happy as today is the best thing in the world.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

Time flies and before Clarke knows it she is six months pregnant and feels at least like eight months pregnant. She thinks it’s maybe because she’s carrying twins that everything seems twice as hard and tiring as it did when she was pregnant with Madi.

Her feet are heavy and her ankles often swollen. She practically has to pee every thirty goddamn minutes and don’t even get her started on the backache.

Abby does regularly checkups and everything looks good.

Even though Abby is able to tell them by now, they decide that they don’t want to know the sex of the babies up front. It’s not important to them and it’s not like it matters much in their society anyway. Plus, Octavia insists that she wants to be surprised. Secretly Clarke suspects it’s because her mate enjoys picking out names so much and doesn’t want to limit her search.

For now they call them baby one and baby two when they talk to them. And talk to them they do often. While Clarke addresses them during the day - especially to calm them and herself down when something stressful happened, Octavia talks to them every night before they go to sleep while rubbing Clarke’s belly for comfort.

When it’s not too late, Madi joins them. The young girl snuggles up to her moms and listens with rapt attention to Octavia’s stories.

It usually doesn’t take long until Madi falls asleep though. Octavia carries her to her room then and tucks her in. She kisses her forehead and tells her that she loves her.

Coming back to their bedroom the alpha never varies from her new ritual of first kissing Clarke’s belly goodnight two times, whispering “I love you, babies.”, and then kissing Clarke’s lips followed by a soft “I love you, honey.” At the end she looks expectantly at Clarke who humors her mate by responding with “I love you too, baby” which earns her a smile and another gentle kiss.

It’s all very domestic and sweet, and while Octavia is usually fast asleep after that, Clarke often lies awake for a little while longer, contemplating how they got here and how she got so lucky.

 

 

 

During the whole duration of the pregnancy Octavia does what she can to learn about pregnancy and giving birth and also to be prepared for their offspring.

For example she bombards Abby with questions every time they have an appointment. That way their checkups always last longer than planned. It’s not that Clarke isn’t interested in her mother’s answers, she just knows that no matter what there will be situations nobody can prepare them for.

Octavia also asks Clarke about her experiences with Madi, and Clarke is more than happy to share stories from Madi’s baby years with her mate. The stories are often tinged with sadness or fear, especially those where Clarke felt helpless and alone and didn’t know what to do, but mostly there are fond memories, for example of Madi smiling for the first time or learning how to crawl.

 

Admittedly things get a little bit out of hand when Octavia comes home one afternoon with a four months old baby that she apparently “borrowed” from Silvia who works at Callahan`s tavern. Octavia’s explanation is that she wanted to have kind of a test run and - for reasons Clarke will never know - Silvia agreed to give her her child for a few hours.

Little Finn is not impressed.

Clarke has to give it to her mate though that she doesn’t give up even after two hours of unsuccessfully trying to calm down the crying baby. In the end it is Clarke who’s fed up and brings the boy back to his mother.

Her crestfallen alpha can only be consoled with kisses and cuddles and Clarke’s assurance that it’s easier when it’s your own child. - It’s not, but Octavia doesn’t need to know that, she already worries too much anyway.

 

 

 

In the last few months of her pregnancy Clarke’s nesting instinct kicks in full force. She collects not only things they’ll need for the babies, but also hoards all kinds of stuff. Furthermore she decorates and redecorates their house almost daily.

Thankfully Octavia lived up to her promise from the first night after they found out about the pregnancy. With the help of a Trikru carpenter Octavia not only built two cribs, one for each child, but also a big one for them to sleep in together.

On top of that the alpha has managed to extend their house by building an additional children’s room and enlarging their living room. Lots of space for Clarke to nest.

 

 

 

Being pregnant also means for Clarke to have to face the contradiction of being horny and not feeling sexy at the same time.

The whole predicament reaches its high when one evening their goodnight kisses grow heated and Clarke feels a familiar tingle in her lower abdomen. Much to her dismay Octavia suddenly pulls away and lies back seemingly ready to go to sleep.

Leaning over her lover, Clarke can’t keep the desperation out of her voice when she says, “Baby, we haven’t had sex in weeks.”

Octavia’s eyes shoot open and she looks at her, brows crinkled.

“What are you talking about? I ate you out the day before yesterday - twice!”

“Yeah, but you haven’t fucked me in ages… Is it because I’m fat? Because you don’t find me attractive anymore?” Clarke whines.

Octavia braces herself on her elbows. “No, honey! You’re the most beautiful and sexiest woman I know! Your pregnancy even makes you sexier… I mean look at your boobs, they are so big and soft! They are the most wonderful breasts I’ve ever seen. I just want to be careful. I’m afraid I’ll hurt the babies if we have penetrative sex.”

“But my moth… - Abby told us it would be ok. She said we don’t have to worry. Pregnant couples have sex all the time.”

“I don’t know, Clarke…”

Their faces are already close, so Clarke only has to lean forward a little bit more to brush her lips softly over Octavia’s. “Come on, baby, please, I need you.” She whispers before she runs her tongue over the alpha’s upper lip.

With a silent whimper Octavia parts her mouth, allowing Clarke to lick into it while her hand slides along the alpha’s abdomen down to her sleep shorts.

Stroking her alpha’s member through the fabric she can feel her erection growing. Octavia groans into her mouth at the stimulation and Clarke can’t help but smile victoriously when she feels her alpha comply.

In one swift motion she pulls Octavia’s shorts down and straddles her hips, all without disconnecting their mouths.

Sucking on Octavia’s tongue she starts to rotate her hips, rubbing her center against the hard member. She’s already incredibly turned on and thinks she might come from the friction and Octavia’s breathless little moans alone. She forces herself to stop though. Tonight she wants to feel her alpha inside of her again.

Leaning back she tries to get rid of her panties which somehow turns into an herculean task. Because of her huge belly her balance is off and she almost falls head first off the bed.

Octavia only just holds on to her by gripping her hips before pulling her back again. As the initial shock subsides, the brunette has the nerve to start laughing about Clarke’s mishap.

Her laughter gets stuck in her throat though and quickly turns into a gasp when Clarke waste no time in sinking down on her erect cock, burying it to the hilt inside herself.

 

This night she rides her alpha’s cock till she has worn herself down. The deep satisfaction of her orgasms can’t even be diminished by the fact that Octavia refuses to come inside of her.

“It’s already occupied in there! I can’t! Please, Clarke, I’m coming!”

She barely gets off of her in time before Octavia makes a mess in their bed. Luckily Clarke is blissed out after coming two times already, therefore she decides to just let it go.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

When Clarke goes into labor, Octavia is not there. Because of course she is not. Clarke would laugh about it if she weren’t so angry at her mate.

The closer the estimated due date came the less often Octavia has left her side, always hovering in the closer proximity, checking up on her randomly and frequently, almost breaking out into a panic every time Clarke so much as groaned or complained about a backache. It was driving Clarke crazy.

 

Of course now that her water actually breaks, her alpha is nowhere in sight. She has to ask Miller for help to get her to the clinic and to send someone to Raven asking her to pick Madi up from daycare later.

Her contractions have been going on for hours when finally Octavia comes bursting through the clinic doors. The alpha stumbles forward and is at her side in seconds, taking her hands softly into hers and kissing her knuckles. She’s breathless, her hair windswept, her forehead sweaty. She looks like Clarke feels.

The mix of love, excitement and slight panic on her mate’s face almost makes her forget her anger, but then Octavia starts to stammer out one apology after the other and Clarke’s anger flares up again.

“Horses? Really? I know you have an affinity for horses, babe, but did you really have to go out on a wild goose chase for an imaginary herd of wild horses so close to my due date?”

Octavia guiltily looks down at their combined hands.

“I’m sorry, love,” she says again, “I just thought…  I mean Helios was so much more than a horse to me, he was my friend, a loyal companion, he more than once saved my life. After Praimfaya we thought horses were extinct, so when I heard there could actually be wild horses out there, I… I know it was stupid, but just wanted our children to have that too. I want them to get to know these majestic animals and I want to teach them horse riding.”

Tears running down her cheeks, Octavia looks so small that Clarke can no longer be angry with her. She gently brushes the tears away before she lifts Octavia’s chin with her fingers to make her look at her.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s a little bit stupid, but also really sweet. And knowing how stubborn you are, I’m sure you will make that happen. But right now I need you here to help me get through this. I want my mate to be here when our children are born, not out there chasing after horses, ok? I didn’t have anyone the first time I gave birth and…” Clarke’s voice wavers and breaks at the thought of the pain and desperation she felt when she was in labor with Madi.

Octavia leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I’m sorry that I made you worry, love. I’m here now, I won’t leave your side.”

Her alpha’s soft reassurance is enough to chase the bad memories of the lonely, excruciating hours right before Madi was born away.

 

Abby who has been giving them some privacy takes this as her cue to make herself known again. She has been standing by the side and preparing the things she is going to need for the delivery.

“Ok, so now that we are all here, let’s do our best to bring my grandchildren into this world safely!”

 

Fortunately everything goes fine.

It takes another two hours till the first child is born, and Clarke is exhausted. She doesn’t even get to hold her baby before the next wave of contractions sets in.

That’s when she remembers that oh yeah, it’s not over yet, there’s another one. She really doesn’t want to go through it all again, but the stabbing pain in her uterus tells her that she has no choice.

She curses her fertile alpha for impregnating her with twins at that moment. Screaming out her pain and frustration helps though. She’s also not sure if Octavia is going to be able to properly use her hand ever again.

 

After what feels like an eternity but in reality is not more than half an hour the second child is born.

 

Another hour later - after the afterbirth is expulsed, mother and children are cleaned up and the proud sire gets her hand bandaged - the newborns slumber peacefully in their mothers’ arms.

Octavia is beaming brightly while holding one of their children, not able to avert her eyes from the tiny figure.

Clarke’s heart feels so full with her own happiness and the happiness she can feel radiating off her mate, she thinks it might burst. It doesn’t of course, instead it grows and makes room for even more love.

And like on the day Madi was born, Clarke can feel the miracle of new life - not only their daughters, but also the beginning of a new life for her.

 

 

They have two beautiful baby girls.

The first born baby is a spitting image of her sire. She has green eyes and a shock of brown hair and looks so much like a mini version of Octavia, it’s almost unreal.

When their friends come by later, Raven bringing Madi with her, the first thing the mechanic says is “I don’t know, O. Are you sure she’s yours?”

The whole room erupts into laughter and it becomes a running joke between their group of friends.

 

As they are dizygotic twins, the second born baby doesn’t look like her sister. She is a little bit smaller than her twin, her hair is also brown, but a lighter shade. Her bright blue eyes and button nose are unmistakably Clarke.

The first time she opens her eyes there’s a glint of mischief in them, and seeing that together with what seems to be the hint of a smirk, Clarke has a feeling that this one is going to cause them more than one sleepless night.

 

They call them Athena and Helena, Thena and Lena in short. The names were mostly Octavia’s choice, a nod to greek mythology that she loves so much, but of course Clarke likes them too.

The decision for Griffin as their last name is an easy one in light of Octavia’s complicated history with her family. The surprise comes a few days after the birth of their twins when Octavia asks Clarke if she is okay with Octavia adopting the Griffin name too.

Of course Clarke is more than okay with that. 

Having a last name is not a requirement for the people of Wonkru, but Octavia and Clarke have encouraged their people to get one since they settled in the valley. Visioning an ever growing population, Octavia thinks it’s going to be a necessity some day.

Most of the former Skaikru just kept their last names. The grounders often keep using their clan name, but some have already chosen their profession or the name of their favorite place or plant or animal as their last name.

Octavia has ordered Cooper to continuously update the census register that they started in the bunker. So Cooper added Diyoza’s crew, Clarke, Madi and their friends from the ark ring. She also notes people’s new last names and does statistics of births and deaths.

 

 

One day after the birth Abby gives clearance for mother and daughters to leave the clinic. She says they are as healthy as they could be.

At home they allow Madi to hold her sisters - on after the other, not both at the same time of course - for the first time. Clarke commits the image to memory of Madi smiling proudly at them while carefully cradling Athena and later Helena to her chest.

 

This night while Clarke, Octavia, Madi, Athena and Helena Griffin are peacefully sleeping, exhausted after the events of the last two days, the people of Wonkru throw an impromptu party.

It’s like the happiness of the Griffin family has spread out into everyone’s soul.

They are celebrating the birth of their leaders’ children. They are celebrating the beginnings of their new civilization.

 

 

 

 

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we have almost come to an end. Next chapter will probably be posted at the end of February. 
> 
> It’s going to be an epilogue with a time jump of about 6 years. I can tell you a little bit about my plans for it: We’ll see Madi hit puberty, we’ll see more of the twins and of Clarke and Octavia’s family life, some political issues will be addressed and so much more.
> 
> Thank you all for following this story so far. I don’t think I could have made it without you cheering me on in form of kudos and comments. I highly appreciate them and can’t thank you enough!
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter and that you’ll stay tuned for the epilogue. :)


	14. Epilogue - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! This is only the first part of the epilogue. The whole thing got so long and the second part is not even finished yet, so I thought it's better to not let you wait and instead post the epilogue in two chapters.  
> You won't have to wait long for the second part though. I'm going to spend the next two days writing non-stop (well, almost non-stop) to finish it. So it will be posted on Saturday or Sunday.  
> Till then, I hope you enjoy the first part!

 

_ Six years later… _

 

Sometimes Clarke wonders how it is possible that the years went by so fast. Everything changes so quickly, and it’s most visible in her children.

 

She remembers it like yesterday how the twins held them awake at night during the first few months after their birth. 

As expected Helena was the one who never slept through the night. And when she cried, her sister followed suit. Octavia was always the first one to get up and try to calm them down, but there was only so much the alpha could do when the babies were hungry and crying for their mother’s breast.

 

It thankfully got better with time, and before their parents would fall into a permanent zombie-like state because of the constant sleep deprivation, the little troublemakers learned to sleep through the night or at least sleep for full six hours.

Soon the babies grew up to lively toddlers, and if Clarke thought they were troublemakers before, she was amazed by how much havoc these two could cause as soon as they were mobile on their chubby, little hands and knees.

She honestly wasn’t expecting that. Madi had been such a good and quiet child. In hindsight that might have been because Madi instinctually knew that their living conditions were dire back then and reckless behavior would have most certainly cost them their lives.

The twins though could barely be contained. Worst of all they always seemed to gang up on her. When she was busy with cleaning up after one of them, the other one sure as hell found something new to disassemble.

Clarke almost began to dread the times during the day when she was alone with the twins, as Madi was in school and Octavia performed her leadership duties.

The first time Octavia laughed at her about it, she changed roles with her alpha, letting her stay at home and look after their girls. After two days Octavia begged her to let her back to work and not leave her alone with them anymore. In the end they bargained a schedule where they both got a few days a week at home and some days at work.

 

With time it became clear that Helena was almost always the instigator for some mischief.

Athena - more often than not - acted as the calm counterpart to her restless sister who seemed unable to sit still if only for a minute.

They complemented each other well in that regard. All in all they were carefree and happy kids, always in search for new things to discover and learn.

Over the years they haven’t become tamer, but better in hiding their shenanigans. As their mother though Clarke still always knows when something is up.

 

In school the twins are popular between their peers, but almost feared by the younger teachers. Luckily Harper has enough experience to handle them by now.

 

Birth numbers have increased and so has the number of kids in school. Soon Harper couldn’t do it alone and needed someone to help with daycare and school. There are four teachers now, so they share the work. The kids are divided into four groups, two with children from three to six years old, one group with six to ten years old kids and the last group with the oldest kids, from ten to thirteen.

With fourteen the kids are encouraged to graduate and find out which kind of work they would like to do. There is a demand for workers in practically every field, so the teenagers have the opportunity to do different traineeships before they decide where to begin their apprenticeship.

Getting the qualification for a certain field of work is similar to the grounders’ former system of a warrior and their second. So now a professional worker takes on an apprentice.

By the time they turn eighteen they have usually completed their education (apart from the more sophisticated professions like for example in medicine or engineering) and start working full-time.

So far the system works well and delivers qualified workers. Furthermore it makes sure that the knowledge people have gained over the years is passed on to the next generation.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

To nobody’s surprise Madi presents as an alpha shortly after her twelfth birthday.

 

As Madi grows older, Clarke sees more and more of Lexa in her. The way she holds herself, her quiet strength, the way she walks and talks, the look of contemplation when she discovers something new or faces a problem, her piercing green eyes that seem to be able to see beyond the obvious, right into the heart of things.

So from the very beginning Clarke had no doubt that her daughter would grow into an extraordinary person, much like her sire. And she suspected that - just like Lexa - Madi would also become a strong female alpha.

 

On the first day of her transition their daughter wakes them up with red rimmed eyes from silently crying at night because her appendage began to grow out - a rather painful experience according to Octavia that takes up to a month to be completed - but also with a huge, proud smile on her face.

They are happy for their daughter and instantly let her know that they love her and are proud of her.

Internally Clarke is a little bit sad that her little girl has grown up so fast and is becoming a woman now.  She also dreads the following years where she has to deal with a moody and hormonal teenager. It’s going to be a turbulent adventure, she’s sure of it.

 

 

Madi’s transition takes a little bit over two weeks. A special tea from Nilyah helps with the growing pain, but Clarke can see that her daughter is getting more and more confused and worried. She knows there’s only one way to ease her daughter’s mind, they have to talk about it.

 

So, one evening, the younger children are already in bed, Clarke and Octavia sit down with the young alpha to give her the sex talk. They decided to do it together, because this way they will be able to give their daughter some more insight from an alpha’s as well as an omega’s perspective. Sitting in the living room, Madi fidgeting and Octavia waiting for Clarke to start the conversation, she doesn’t know who of the two alphas is more uncomfortable with the situation.

It’s up to her, she realizes, so she gets straights to the point. She talks about sex and procreation, the special dynamics of alphas, betas and omegas, including ruts, heats and mating. She explains everything in detail with clear words and encourages Madi to ask questions.

It’s going well, at least that’s what Clarke thinks. By the end of it Madi looks at her as if she’s getting sick though.

“Madi, what’s wrong? Do you have any more questions?”

The girl looks away shyly, “No, mom, I…”

“Hey, you know you can talk to us about anything. What is it?” Clarke prods gently.

“I don’t think I want to have sex. It sounds kind of gross.” The young alpha frowns.

Clarke suppresses a relieved sigh and smiles. “That’s because you’re too young for it. Just wait till you’re twenty, maybe you’ll want to have sex then. And if not, thirty is a totally appropriate age to start having sex.”

Next to her Octavia rolls her eyes, “Clarke…”

For the first time during the conversation Octavia speaks directly to Madi, “Your mom is right that you’re way too young to have sex. Just because your body has changed and you might be physically able to have sex, doesn’t mean you are actually ready for it. Mentally and emotionally you still have so much growing to do. It’s going to take time till you are mature enough to share your body with somebody else. And I’m sure it’s going to be a great experience then - with the right person.”

“Ok.” Madi mumbles, looking less concerned.

“But as an alpha let me tell you that times when you feel different about it will come sooner than that. There will be situations when you suddenly don’t think it’s gross anymore. You will feel this want inside you and it’ll be difficult to think about anything else.”

“When I’m in rut?” Madi asks.

“Yeah, but not only then.” Octavia explains. “Your teenage hormones will run rampant, especially when a person you find attractive is around. Maybe this person likes you back, and sooner than you think, you’ll be doing things…”

“Like kissing?”

“Yeah, like kissing and touching. If you find yourself in a situation like that, I want you to take a step back, clear your head and take the time to really think about what you’re doing. It’s easy to get lost in the heat of the moment, you get overwhelmed by all that amazing feelings and you don’t want to stop. But I also know that you’re strong enough to control yourself. You have to, ok? You can’t just let your alpha instinct take over. You might end up hurting yourself or your partner, and I’m sure you don’t want that.”

“Of course not!” Madi exclaims.

“Good!” Clarke chimes in, she’s so immensely proud of both alphas in that moment for being able to talk openly about these things.

“Come here, group hug!” She jumps up from her seat.

Embracing both of her girls, Clarke realizes for the first time how tall Madi already is. She actually has to lift her head to kiss her daughter on the forehead. 

“We just want you to be careful, Madi. And please, know that you can always come to us and talk to us about sex and feelings, anything really.”

“I know, moms. I will.”

“Good. And when you are about to have your first rut, your mother is going to tell you all about taking care of oneself.” Clarke says with a wink to her wife.

She is hardly able to suppress her laughter at the mortified look on Octavia’s face.

 

 

 

~

 

Even though Blodreina’s and Reinatu’s reign over Wonkru maintained over the years, they were slowly but steadily heading to a more democratic form of government - which both Clarke and Octavia support. In fact they were the ones who suggested the first changes and put them into effect.

It took them and some selected advisors almost two years to compile the first draft of Wonkru’s constitution. It consists of three parts.

 

The first part contains the general principles their society is build on and also some values Wonkru should strive for, like preserve all life on earth.

 

The second part is an outline for the current form of government, a constitutional monarchy, but it also leaves possibilities for future changes with the end goal of a democracy.

It implements a council which members are elected by the people. The council discusses general issues and sometimes even day-to-day problems and proposes solutions to Blodreina or Reinatu or both who then decide what to do. The council can also propose new laws. It’s then decided per majority vote if those laws are going to be included in the constitution.

In the third year of living in the valley the first elections for the six council seats were held. Out of the ten people who stood for election the first elected representatives have been Indra who gave over her duties as General of the peacekeepers to Echo, Emori who had finished the demolition and recycling of all the tech and materials on the Ark ring by then, Diyoza who was one of the main advisors for the compilation of the constitution and had become a popular spokesperson for the workers that were building the aqueducts, Malik, the son of the former leader of the Shallow Valley Kru who grew up in the valley that Wonkru calls their home now, Brell kom Sangedakru, Octavia’s former general and follower of the Flame, and Tarro kom Podakru, a fisherman and father of three.

In addition to the council there are the special consultants that are appointed by Octavia. These consultants are the leading experts in their fields, for example Raven for technology and development or Monty for agriculture and nutrition. They are not only allowed but encouraged to participate in council meetings. Their opinions on certain matters are highly valued and taken into consideration when important decisions are made.

 

The third part of the constitution contains the laws and also the designated punishments for breaking them, most of these punishments mean making amends in form of labor or goods, some include prison time. Only murder and rape are sentenced with the death penalty, but fortunately there haven’t been any murders or rapes in all of the six years Wonkru has lived outside of the bunker.

Firearms are banned, only the peacekeepers and Blodreina’s personal guards are allowed to train with them, and they are only allowed to use them against outside forces, for example for the unlikely scenario that another spaceship comes down to earth and its passengers attack Wonkru.

 

After the first election of the council members, the constitution was ratified by the council, the special consultants and the two leaders, Blodreina and Reinatu.

Elections for the council are being held every three years.

Even with the establishment of a constitution and the council, most of the executive and judicatory power still lies in Octavia’s and Clarke’s hands.

So it’s only the first step to democracy, but Clarke is positive that they’ll get there one day. Her motives for trying to accomplish that is not only because she thinks it’ll be the best for Wonkru but also because she doesn’t want Madi to be burdened with the leadership role just because of her heritage.

The voices of the people who call for the young nightblood to follow into her mothers’ footsteps and ascend the throne someday - with or without the Flame - are quieter but persistent, and Clarke has mixed feelings about that. Nonetheless she and Octavia do their best to take precautions and prepare Madi for the leadership role.

Her only relief is that Clarke is almost sure nobody is going to insist that Madi takes the Flame anymore. The followers of the Flame have gotten fewer over the years, and even Gaia seems less fanatical about it.

 

The priestess has found another life task. She is writing down history to preserve it for future generations.

Initially she started writing to prevent the loss of the grounder’s religion, but while studying the Flamekeepers’ manuscripts and delving into their origins Gaia couldn’t ignore anymore that their myths are based on old world’s technology and science.

All came together when John Murphy offered his help, especially with the computer and Artificial Intelligence stuff.

Together they unwrapped it all. They searched the digital archives of the old world that were stored in the mainframe of the Ark and have long ago been copied to their current system by Raven. They talked to many people to get the full picture of the events. It took them almost two years, but in the end they managed to write down history, beginning with the downfall of the old world and the story of Becca Pramheda and finishing with Wonkru’s rise from the bunker and settlement in the valley.

First they wrote it on the computers of the prisoners crew’s space ship so that their history was stored digitally. Gaia insisted on a physical copy though, she still didn’t trust technology.

They asked around and found some grounders who knew how to make paper. With Raven’s help they even found instructions to build a paper press and a printing machine in the archives of the old world.

A small group of workers was tasked with building these machines. It took them a few months, but when they were ready, they actually worked.

Nowadays John and Gaia are still busy with transferring every written word from the digital version to paper. The first three books are already completed and waiting to be multiplied in order to distribute the copies and make them available for the people of Wonkru.

Clarke couldn’t hold back the tears of joy when she read the first edition of the third book that mainly details the life and accomplishments of Lexa, the last commander of the Flame. Her late mate’s legacy will live on and never be forgotten. Students will learn about it in school and it will be passed on from generation to generation.

More importantly though, with all these history books Clarke hopes that Wonkru will always remember the past and that this way they can prevent history from repeating itself, make sure that future generations won’t make the same mistakes and ultimately won’t have to face extinction because of another nuclear apocalypse.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

Around noon on the day of the twins’ sixth birthday Clarke has just laid down their three month old baby boy, Apollo, in his crib for an after-lunch nap.

Clarke and Octavia didn’t really plan for another child, their hands already full with juggling their three kids and their work. The first few years after the twins were born they even actively took precautions to avoid another pregnancy. These precautions were mostly of mechanical nature like condoms (another old world device that Raven was able to recreate). But during Clarke’s heat when she was especially fertile those were not safe enough.

Luckily - with Abby’s help - Niylah had perfected her anti-pregnancy tea. So whenever Clarke was in heat, she took the tea. Initially she had a strict regime, but with time she started to slack and then she stopped drinking the tea altogether. Of course she talked to Octavia about it and together they decided to just let nature take its course. If fate wanted to gift them with another child so be it. The twins were old enough at that point to go to daycare, and Clarke still young enough so that a pregnancy wouldn’t be high-risk. It seemed to be the perfect time for another child.

Clarke got pregnant as soon as her second heat without the tea, and nine month later a healthy baby boy with blue eyes and dark-brown hair was born. From the very beginning he has been a happy and quiet child and quite the charmer, always smiling brightly when someone gives him their attention.

 

As always he is fast asleep after his feeding, and Clarke is looking forward to her afternoon nap as well when she hears giggling outside that gets carried in through the open window by a light breeze. She looks through the window and only just sees the wisps of a blonde ponytail disappearing into the stable behind their house.

Even though the kids should be at school, she knows it can only be her daughter. Helena’s hair got lighter and is almost as blonde as Clarke’s now.

Octavia eventually had found her herd of wild horses and together with some former horse breeders she tamed and bred them, creating a quite remarkable amount of deployable horses for Wonkru.

The main stables and breeding farm are outside the town, but as Wonkru’s leader Octavia has a stable near their house where her own three horses are accommodated.

Knowing their twins shouldn’t be left unsupervised in the barn, Clarke follows them to see what they are up to. She finds them in the back of the barn where Octavia keeps her tools.

“Hey, you two, shouldn’t you be in school?” She shouts, satisfied to see them flinch in surprise.

Sheepishly they turn around to face their mother, both hiding their hands behind their backs.

“Miss Harper let us leave earlier because it’s our birthday.” Helena answers with an innocent smile.

“Oh?” Clarke raises her brow.

“Yeah, so that we could help you prepare for our birthday dinner.” Helena explains sweetly.

Clarke doesn’t buy it. They are definitely up to something.  

“Hmm, and what exactly is it that you wanted to help me with? Your mother has already prepared everything to roast the wild boar on a spit, and your guests will bring different side dishes and I already baked the brambleberry pie that you both love so much this morning. So it doesn’t look like there’s much to do anymore.”

She practically sees the wheels turning in her daughter’s head.

“We’ll help with the decorations, mom!” Helena exclaims after a moment of hesitation. Athena who hasn’t said anything yet nods a little bit too enthusiastically at her sister’s suggestion.

“Here in the barn?” She could have cut right to the chase, but she’ll admit she enjoys drawing this interrogation out a little bit and making her daughters sweat. Having been in a similar situation often before with them, Clarke still waits for the day her daughters will learn not to mess with their mother. Somehow she suspects that day will never come.  

“We… we just needed to get a cord… for the decorations!” Helena holds up a string triumphantly.

So ok, it doesn’t look like Helena is going to break anytime soon. Time to shift focus.

“So, Thena, what did you get? What’s behind your back?” Clarke asks, smiling almost menacingly.

The older twin visibly pales. After a short look at her sister who almost imperceptibly shakes her head and a few more seconds of them communicating seemingly telepathically - a thing the twins often do, leaving Clarke and everyone else in the dark-, Athena’s shoulders slump and with a sigh of defeat she brings her hands to the front.

Clarke can’t help the gasp that escapes her mouth. She already thought it wasn’t something good, but she really hasn’t expected this - then again, if anything her daughters should have taught her by now, it is to be prepared for anything.

In the palms of Athena’s hands sits a pyramid-shaped object that Clarke identifies as one of Raven’s explosive devices.

“Give me that!” She grabs the device carefully. “Where did you even get this? Raven keeps them locked up.”

“Don’t be mad, mommy,” Athena pleads, “we-we made it ourselves. We just had to get all the different parts. Aunt Rae doesn’t lock up the single parts.”

“How did you…-Why…?”

“We wanted to have fireworks for our birthday party. It is totally safe, mom! We only need a longer ignition cable and then we can fire it from the distance.” Helena tries to defend them.

“No, you won’t be doing that. Ever. You also shouldn’t play with stuff like that in the first place!”

“But aunt Rae does it all the time!” Helena protests.

“Aunt Rae is an adult who has studied a long time before she started to build her own bombs or fireworks.” Technically that wasn’t completely true, but her kids didn’t have to know that.

“I don’t want you to get near any explosives ever again - or at least until you’re old enough and trained. These things are really dangerous. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, mom.” Athena replies, eyes to the ground.

“Ok, mom.” Helena somewhat concedes.

“Ok. Let’s go inside and do some actual decoration. And don’t think you’re off the hook. After your birthday your Ma and I are going to think about a proper punishment for stealing Raven’s stuff.”

 

 

 

A couple of hours later Clarke takes her three youngest children for a walk to the training fields of the peacekeepers where Octavia has her usual training session today.

The preparations for the birthday party are mostly done and the guests are going to arrive in about an hour. Clarke doesn’t want her wife to run late, so she thinks it’s better to pick her up.

They hardly get there when the twins run off to get some wooden training swords and find some cadets who humor them in a pretended sword fight.

 

Apollo strapped to her back in a baby sling, Clarke approaches the corner of the training field where Octavia trains with Echo.

Engrossed in their sword fight - with real swords, not wooden ones - the two warriors don’t notice Clarke at first. She doesn’t mean to but can’t help eavesdrop on the conversation they are having while training.

 

“…I feel like something’s going on with Raven. Has she told you or Clarke anything?” Echo asks while she attacks.

“No. What do you mean?” Octavia elegantly moves out of the way before she lunges out for her counter strike.

“I don’t know. Normally I have to remind her to eat. She gets so lost in her work that she forgets sometimes. But now, she eats more… like all the time.” Echo ducks down, dodging Octavia’s strike that would have probably decapitated her otherwise.

“And that’s a bad thing?” Octavia jumps to avoid getting her feet swept out from under her by Echo’s low round kick.

“No. It’s not. She gained weight though.”

“Are you saying she’s fat?”

“No! I… I just noticed. Her belly got… bigger?” Echo steps back to soften the blow as Octavia’s blade makes contact with hers.

“If you’re worried, you should talk to her about it.” Octavia is still on the offense, forcing Echo to fall back further with a series of powerful strikes.

“How? Are you suggesting I tell my wife that she gained weight?” Echo blocks the alpha’s next strike and simultaneously takes advantage of their proximity by grabbing her opponent’s wrist, effectively locking their swords together. 

“Only if you have a death wish.” Octavia pushes the omega back, freeing herself from Echo’s hold.

“Yeah, no. I should better not say anything.” The Azgeda warrior quickly finds her footing and gets ready for her next attack.

“That’s probably for the best.” Octavia nods, taking up a defensive stance.

 

Behind her Apollo has woken up from his nap and is drooling onto Clarke’s shoulder. He’s making some gurgling, giggling noises while playing with his mother’s hair.

“Yeah, little one, I don’t know why they are so bad at communicating either.” Clarke sighs quietly before she makes her presence known to the two warriors.

 

 

 

Later at night when the kids are in bed, exhausted from the birthday party, Clarke tells her wife about the newest mischief of their twins while they are getting ready for bed.

“Guess what your children did today?”

“Oh, they are my children again, huh? Well, it can’t be something good then. You only call the twins mine instead of ours when they got up to nonsense.” Octavia answers with a half grin.

“They skipped school, stole from Raven and built an explosive.” Clarke deadpans.

“What?” Octavia stares at her unbelievingly.

“Apparently they wanted fireworks for their birthday. I caught them in the stable, trying to complete their device with an ignition cable.”

“How do they even know how do to that? They only turned six for fuck’s sake.”

Clarke shrugs after slipping her sleeping shirt over her head.

“Well, don’t ask me. But I think we’re going to have to talk to Raven. She shouldn’t teach her apprentices these kind of things when our kids are around. I know they love to visit their aunt, but maybe they are there too often. Either we limit the visits or Raven has to be more careful. Otherwise I’m afraid our two delinquents are going to burn the whole town down before they turn seven.”

“Yeah, you should talk to her about it.” Octavia slips under the cover. “She’s your best friend.”

“Are you afraid of her?” Clarke asks teasingly while she joins her wife in bed.

“What? No! But I think she better hears that from you.”

“You just want to avoid her wrath. You know she’ll be complaining about censorship and tyranny.” Clarke chuckles at the thought.

“Hmm. If Blodreina tells her what do to, she probably will.” The alpha adds for consideration. “See, that’s why it’s better that you talk to her.”

“Ugh, and you wonder where our children got it from.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Octavia grins cheekily.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

The next day Clarke goes to visit her mother. There are so many leftovers from the birthday party last night and she doesn’t want the food to go to waste. So she packs a basket with some of it to bring her mother for lunch.

She knocks at the door but nobody answers. Wondering if Abby is still at the clinic, Clarke decides to just let herself in and leave the food in the kitchen. Her mother will be home sooner or later.

As soon as she enters the house she hears a loud thud and a groan. Concerned for her mother’s safety, Clarke hurries into the kitchen only to freeze in shock at the sight before her.

Abby’s back is pressed to the kitchen counter, one hand gripping the edge of the counter, the other buried in the brunette mane of someone kneeling in front of her.

The sounds of moaning and slurping suddenly come to a stop when Clarke’s basket hits the floor with a thump.

Two heads turn to Clarke at once, and in horror Clarke realizes that the face that is still way to close to her mother’s bare crotch belongs to none other than Charmaine Diyoza.

“What the fuck?”

“Clarke…” Abby croaks, her voice still hoarse, while getting dressed quickly.

Clarke wishes she would have never heard or seen her mother like that. In fact there are many noises she wishes she has never heard in context with her mother.

“I better go.” Diyoza says, scrambling to her feet.

The timid smile and encouraging squeeze of the arm the brunette gives Abby before she leaves doesn’t go unnoticed by Clarke.

As soon as they are alone Clarke can’t hold back anymore. “I can’t believe you, mom!”

“What? Am I not allowed to have a love life?” Abby counters.

“Sure you do, but with her? After everything she did?”

Stepping a little bit closer, Abby makes eye contact as if to make clear that she has nothing to be embarrassed about.

Her voice is firm and steady when she says, “Charmaine has been nothing but kind und helpful over the last few years, and she’s a valuable member of our government. We have all done things that we’re not proud of to survive. We hurt our friends, we killed our enemies, we betrayed our allies, we sacrificed a few so that the many could live. But we also left that behind us, we forgave our tormenters and we forgave ourselves. Doesn’t she deserve the same forgiveness?”

“She… I… maybe”, Clarke stutters, momentarily stunned by her mother’s words. “B-But another alpha?”

Rolling her eyes, Abby scoffs, “Oh, please, Clarke, don’t be so narrow minded. I raised you better than that.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Clarke sighs, burying her face in her hands. “I think I’m still shocked because I just saw _Charmaine_ on her knees sucking my mother off. And… oh my God, I’m never going to get rid of that image, am I? It’s forever seared into my retinas.”

She desperately rubs her eyes as if that would help her get the image out of her mind.

“Like you are one to talk.” Abby says teasingly. “Don’t think I didn’t saw you and Octavia at the last harvest festival when she couldn’t even wait to get into your pants till you were at home. Or the many times I had to close my bedroom window at night because I heard you screaming your wife’s name. In case you haven’t noticed our houses are right next to each other and you’re not exactly quiet, Clarke!”

“Mom! Why would you tell me that? Now I’ll have to think of YOU hearing us every time we have sex. You’re ruining my life! I’m never going to have sex again!”

Abby rolls her eyes at her daughter’s antics.

“It’s probably for the best if we talk about my new relationship later, when you’ve calmed down a little bit.” The older alpha suggests, and there’s a vulnerability in her eyes that Clarke rarely sees in her mother. It’s that moment more than anything that Clarke realizes her mother’s feelings for Diyoza are serious and this is not just a fling for her.

“Look, mom, I’m really happy that you found someone again. I just need some time to accept that this someone is Diyoza of all people. So, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go bleach my eyes now…”

Both laughing lightly, Clarke hugs her mother before she leaves.

 

 

 

 

~

_To be continued…_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter had probably more politics and worldbuilding stuff than some of you would have liked. It's kind of important to me though to include it and to try to paint a larger picture.
> 
> The next and last (for real!) chapter (which will be posted this Saturday or Sunday) will be light on that, it mainly focuses on the relationships between Raven/Echo and Clarke/Octavia.


	15. Epilogue - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the second part of the epilogue and the last chapter of this story. 
> 
> Thank you for coming along for the ride! I hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing it.
> 
> If you liked this story, think about leaving kudos and/or saying hi in the comments one last time. I'm always looking forward to hear from you. 
> 
> One last thing that comes from the heart and is the reason I started writing this story in the first place: (I don't think I will keep watching the show when it comes back with season 6, but to those who do,) I'm asking you to please watch it with a critical eye, to see through the misogynistic bs they might try to sell you and to not let them manipulate you into hating these strong women who surely aren't without flaws but deserve better. 
> 
> Ok, that's it from me. In the words of Kara Danvers, peace out!  
> Enjoy the chapter! :)

 

 

Clarke loves the afternoons she gets to spend with her family. With Apollo only a few months old she works only a few hours in the morning so that she’s at home when the twins get home from school. On rare days, like today, Octavia also takes half the day off to join them.

At breakfast they decided to go to the lake which meant the kids were in an excited frenzy the whole morning. Now they get to work off their energy in the warm, clear water of the lake at the foot of the mountain that has become a popular recreational spot for the people of Wonkru.

While Octavia, Madi and the twins are in the water, romping around, Clarke sits on a blanket in the soft, green grass. She enjoys watching her girls play, the sun is shining on her face and Apollo is sleeping peacefully in her arms after being breastfed.

Octavia taught Thena and Lena how to swim not too long ago, and already they seem completely comfortable in the water. They’re having a water fight, splashing around, everybody against everybody.

Clarke sees it coming before it happens as she recognizes the mischief in her daughters’ eyes.

It only takes a few short glances between the three sisters who have always been able to easily communicate non-verbally with each other.

Octavia seems oblivious though when suddenly things take a turn and instead of aimlessly splashing water at each other the kids gang up on their mother. Before Octavia has time to react the twins leap on her shoulders, one on each side, and push her down while behind her Madi takes a deep breath, dives deep down and apparently pulls Octavia down by her legs. Needless to say the older alpha has no chance as she helplessly submerges.

After a few seconds she comes up again, spluttering and panting. The kids immediately dart away in different directions, giggling and squealing in glee, when Octavia growls and chases after them.

She captures Lena right before the girl’s feet hit the shore, scoops her up and let’s herself fall back into the water, the girl wriggling in her tight hold. Her surprised scream is drowned out by the water as both of them immerse in the waves shortly, only to resurface to a chorus of screams and laughter from Thena and Madi which only grows louder when Octavia and Lena join in.

Clarke grins, shaking her head at the shenanigans of her family. Of course the Griffin bunch is the loudest of all the people at the lake.

 

Though after a while they are played out and come back to the shore.

Octavia joins Clarke and their son on the blanket. Walking by them to get her towel, she gives her wife a wet kiss on the cheek, the cold water from her hair dripping down on Clarke’s warm skin, making her shriek in protest.

In retaliation she slaps Octavia’s shorts covered booty as punishment. It kind of backfires though when the alpha leans down again and lowly growls into her ear, “safe that for the bedroom, honey.”

The wetness she feels now has nothing to do with the water of the lake.

She’s jostled out of her daydreams by the twins arguing about who gets the last banana.

They brought a picnic basket with snacks and Thena and Lena pitch into it like starved animals.

“Hey, slow down, ok. There’s enough for everyone.” Clarke reprimands the girls.

“Mmmkey, mom.” Is all the mumbled response she gets.

 

After the girls have stilled their hunger, they actually share some of the leftovers with their mothers.

With Octavia sitting behind her, Clarke comfortably leans back against her mate’s chest and enjoys Octavia’s warm skin on hers. Wrapping her arms around her, Octavia hums with satisfaction.

Apollo sits in Thena’s lap and curiously looks at Lena who tries to get him to crawl by demonstrating it to him. Even though Clarke has told them he’s too young for that twice already in the last week, they won’t give up.

 

Their oldest daughter is at the water’s edge with some friends from school. Madi is talking animatedly to a girl about her age. Clarke knows her, the two been friends for some time. Her name is Keelin and she is the daughter of Indra’s younger brother. She has dark skin, kind, soulful eyes and black curly hair. She’s beautiful and just recently presented as an omega.

Since Madi’s last birthday where Keelin was one of the guests Clarke suspects that her daughter has a small crush on the girl, so she watches the two of them carefully.

While Madi is telling the other girl something that Clarke can’t hear, gesturing towards the middle of the lake, Keelin seems to listen attentively. When the taller girl’s laughter fills the air, Clarke can see the awestruck look on her daughter’s pinking face. It’s sweet.

Suddenly two older boys approach them and obviously try to convince Keelin to get into the water with them. She refuses though, crossing her arms in front of her and taking a step back. The boys move closer to grab her, but before they can reach her Madi steps in front of the girl and pushes the boys back, growling and shouting at them to leave her friend alone.

With some mumbled expletives the boys retreat into the lake, but not before spluttering water towards the girls.

As soon as the boys are gone, Madi turns to her friend. From the distance is seems like she’s asking her if she’s ok, to which the girl nods before she gives Madi a firm hug.

Nudging Octavia to get her attention, Clarke nods towards the girls. They both look at them just in time to see their daughter’s face turning from a light pink to dark red.

The hug takes just a little bit too long, and when it ends Madi stands there looking at her feet shyly, obviously not knowing what to say. She’s saved from more embarrassment by Keelin’s mother calling for the girl to pack her stuff because they want to go home.

After saying goodbye to each other, Madi’s glance lingers on the retreating form of her friend for a while before she makes her way back to her family.

“Should we be concerned?” Octavia whispers into Clarke’s ear before their daughter is in hearing distance.

“Hmm, I don’t think so. It looks like our daughter is as oblivious and useless as you when it comes to pretty girls.” Clarke answers teasingly.

“I’ll have you know that I have great game.” Octavia huffs.

“Sure, babe.”

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

Most of Raven’s first ideas and projects, like electricity for the village and running water in all the houses have been accomplished over the years.

The building of the aqueducts is still ongoing, but only because they want to establish secondary routes to bypass the original ones in case these are destroyed by falling rocks or something. No one wants to go without the luxury of having running water in their house anymore, so the council voted in favor of building more aqueducts to secure the supply.

Fortunately Raven didn’t need to be personally involved with the manufacturing of the aqueducts anymore as for many years now Zodac has overseen the venture and she had so much other things to do.

Once a project of hers is finished Raven always comes up with something new. She never seems to run out of ideas for new inventions or improvements. Amazing things that make life on the ground easier and more comfortable or help increase Wonkru’s productivity.

The impact that Raven’s ideas had and still have on their people and on the environment is astounding. Without her the present and future of Wonkru would be so different and not in a good way.

That’s one more reason (the main one is that she loves her friend) why Clarke is overjoyed to see her best friend happy in her personal life too.

Clarke was right back then when she told Raven that she deserved only the best. And for Raven Echo seems to be the perfect match. They complete each other, balance each other out. Echo’s often stoic and quiet nature provides the perfect counterpoint to Raven’s sometimes restless and abundant energy. They’ve found peace in one another.

Not to mention that even after five years of marriage the Azgeda warrior’s icy facade melts away to reveal a lovesick fool whenever Raven’s sunny smile is directed at her. Everybody sees the love in Echo’s heart-eyes then, though no one would dare to tease her about it, well, no one apart from Clarke of course.

Raven and Echo got mated and had their bonding ceremony two weeks after the second Harvest Festival, right on the day of their one year anniversary of telling each other “I love you” - like the romantic saps they are.

 

Of course it hasn’t just been sunshine and roses for the couple.

No matter how hard they tried, one thing doesn’t seem to be in the cards for them - having kids of their own.

A few months into their marriage, they started trying to get pregnant via artificial insemination. With Abby’s help they established a calendar with Raven’s and Echo’s cycle to determine the dates when they would be most fertile. Of course that was easier to do with Echo, being an omega they just had to wait for her heat. So they started with her, using Monty as a sperm donor. After four unsuccessful tries, they switched to Raven. As a beta her chances to get pregnant without an alpha involved were low, so after a few failed attempts they asked Emori to be their sperm donor. Unfortunately despite using the female alpha’s sperm their efforts were without success.

Having heard of the possibility of artificial insemination, a few other couples came to Abby for help, and over the years the doctor perfected the conservation and application methods for the sperm.

After almost two years of unsuccessful attempts it finally worked for Raven and Echo too.  

Echo got pregnant with Emori as sperm donor, and Raven and Echo were overjoyed. The joy didn’t last long though as the pregnancy ended in an early miscarriage after only three weeks.

As hard as it was they got over it, brushed the loss aside and tried again and Echo got pregnant again. They were carefully optimistic afterwards, but tried not to get their hopes up.

It didn’t hurt less though when Echo lost the child at the end of the first trimester.

Echo fell into a deep hole of grief and self-loathing. Blaming herself for the loss, she even offered Raven to dissolve their mating bond, so that Raven could find herself an alpha to have a family with.

It was a dark time for them. Raven was desperate and terrified, the only time she had seen Echo like that was shortly before Praimfaya had hit when Echo had tried to take her life in A.L.I.E.’s lab.

But just like then Raven pulled Echo back from the edge. She didn’t let her mate push her away. She fought for them, as she has never been one to give up. In the end Echo found her way out of the darkness with the help of her mate. They gave each other the solace and strength they needed to finally mourn their child together.

The emotional wounds healed over time and their bond only got stronger. Nevertheless, after the painful experience they decided to not try to get pregnant again.

 

 

Nowadays they are happy with being the cool aunts for Clarke and Octavia’s kids. They love all four of them like they were their own and of course the kids love them back - sometimes Clarke thinks the twins love Raven even more than her.

Furthermore Raven has her apprentices, two of the older kids who she handpicked from Harper’s school. There were initially ten applicants, and after a probationary period Raven selected the two she deemed fit and intelligent enough to teach all her knowledge to.

Maybe there will be more after a few years. But for now these two students are the lucky ones, and because Raven works without set office hours and often long into the night, the teenagers practically live in her house. They became a part of Raven’s and Echo’s family.

All in all Raven is happy and Echo is happy that her wife is happy. 

 

 

Everything seems to change again for them one summer night.

It’s a normal evening after a long work day, Raven and Echo are over to the Griffin house for dinner. The two families try and usually manage to get together once a week.

A few hours after dinner and after bringing the kids to bed, the four adults make themselves comfortable in the living room.

Clarke sits in her favorite armchair next to the fire place, Octavia in her own one and Raven and Echo share the love seat. It’s time for a nightcap, and Octavia serves a red wine that Monty gave her this morning , promising that it’s a good vintage and after a three years storage time the precious liquid is at its best now.

When she motions for her wife’s glass to fill it, Clarke shakes her head though. “Thanks, but I’ll only have a sip from yours. I don’t want to drink too much alcohol while I’m still breastfeeding.”

“Ok, honey.” Octavia says before she winks to Raven and Echo, “that leaves more for us, right?”

Fidgeting slightly in her seat, Raven stutters, “No, ahem,… thank you b-but I’m going to pass… in solidarity to Clarke?”

“Oh no, Raven, you don’t have to. I know how much you loved Monty’s last wine. You should try this one, he said it’s even better.” Clarke assures.

“It’s fine. I’ll sit this one out.” Raven looks more and more uncomfortable, Clarke notices. Before she can ask what’s bothering her, Octavia chimes in.

“Really? Raven Reyes says no to a good wine? What’s up with you? Are you pregnant?” The words haven’t fully left her mouth when Octavia glances to Raven’s stomach that’s more prominent than usual before her eyes grow wide.

“Oh my God, you are pregnant.” The alpha whispers.

Looking like a deer in headlights Raven doesn’t even try to deny it.

Clarke feels like an idiot that she hasn’t put the pieces together earlier, especially since her usually oblivious - when it comes to these things - wife has figured it out a second before her.

 “Babe?” Echo croaks, turning to her wife, a mix of shock and confusion on her face.

“Please, don’t be mad.” Raven pleads faintly, reaching for her mate’s hand.

“So, it’s true? How? When? Why- why didn’t you tell me?”

Echo stares at her wife for answers.

Clarke gives her credit for staying so calm, she would have freaked out by now. Echo is probably still in shock, she contemplates. Also, maybe they should leave the couple alone, give them some privacy.

She looks at Octavia who meets her eyes. Slightly jerking her head towards their bedroom door, she non-verbally asks her mate to leave the room. Octavia just shakes her head though, even pouts a little bit. Well, looks like they are going to stay.

Holding on to Echo’s hand like her wife will vanish when she lets go, Raven starts to explain.

“A few months back I talked to Abby again about the possibility of me getting pregnant. I don’t know why, it just felt right. Abby affirmed that even though I’m a beta and we have already tried and failed at getting me pregnant, technically it could work. And that if we succeeded, I should be capable of carrying the child to term. With my spine injury it’s likely though that I will need to get a c-section.”

“A c-section? Isn’t that a risky procedure?” Echo interjects.

“Abby has done it before, and besides, I was willing to take the risks.”

“You were willing to take the risks? But what about me, Raven? I’m absolutely not willing to take the risks! I can’t lose you!” Echo tries to stand up, her voice full of anger and desperation, but Raven pulls her down again, pleading with her mate.

“Please, baby, I…”

Sighing heavily in defeat, Echo slumps down. “It’s too late now anyway, isn’t it? What did you do, Raven?”

“We did the artificial insemination and it actually worked at the first try. I mean isn’t that like a miracle in itself?” Raven says hopefully, a timid smile on her face.

Echo is silent, seemingly processing all the information.

“How far along are you?” She asks eventually.

“Nearly five months.”

Echo takes in a sharp breath, her hands are shaking, and Clarke can see that she tries hard to hold herself back.

Voice hoarse and on the verge of breaking, the omega opens up to her wife, “Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you know that I’d do anything to make you happy? If you had told me that you wanted to try again, I would have supported you. If I had known I…”

“Baby, I’m so sorry.” Raven interrupts her with tears in her eyes, “I wanted to tell you so often… but then I thought the longer I wait, the higher is the chance that this pregnancy won’t end before it’s time. You were devastated after the miscarriage and I didn’t want to see you in such pain again.”

“So you thought it’s better to carry the burden all by yourself? I’m your partner! Does that mean anything to you?” Echo is full on crying now as well as Raven.

“Of course it does! But when we lost our child, I nearly lost you too in the aftermath, and I can’t do that again. I can’t lose you. I love you! So, yeah, I made a mistake by not telling you, but I thought if I had a miscarriage and you wouldn’t know about it, then at least you wouldn’t leave me.”

“Raven… I-I promise I won’t leave you, no matter what.” Echo leans forward till their foreheads are touching.

 “I love you.” Echo kisses Raven’s tears away. She kisses her eyes, her cheeks, her mouth, then holds her tight till Raven’s tears subside.

Sniffling and with a wet smile the omega finally says, “now tell me about our child.”

The smile returns to Raven’s face again as she happily announces, “it’s a baby girl, and at the last checkup Abby said everything looks fine.”

“A girl?” Echo breathes, her voice filled with awe.

“Yeah, she’s is perfect.” Raven whispers.

 

“Congratulations, you two.” Clarke chimes in, and for the first time the happy couple seems to notice that there are still other people in the room.

“Yeah, congratulations! We are so happy for you!” Octavia exclaims while everybody stands up and exchanges hugs.

Octavia pours herself and Echo a glass of wine, and they clink glasses before taking a large sip.

 

After things calm down a little bit, they settle back into their seats, Raven on Echo’s lab, the omega’s arms wrapped around her.

“So, who did you use as sperm donor?” Octavia wants to know.

“Octavia!” Clarke reprimands her alpha, although she is curious herself.

“No, it’s ok, Clarke. No more secrets.” Raven says before directing her gaze to Echo. “I hope you are ok with who it is.”

“As long as you and our girl are healthy, I don’t care who the sperm donor is.” Echo replies sincerely.

Raven nods. “Ok, so at first I didn’t know who to use as a sperm donor as it hadn’t worked with Monty’s or Emori’s sperm before, but Abby came up with an idea. She talked to Diyoza and - I don’t know why - but she agreed. She said she and her partner didn’t want kids and she would be happy to help me out. She also agreed to not raise any claims, like parental rights, regarding the child.”

“Diyoza?” Octavia raises her brow in question. “Why would Diyoza of all people give you her sperm? And who is her partner? Did you know she is in a relationship?” She looks at Clarke.

“I haven’t seen her with anyone, but she made it sound like she was in a long-term relationship.” Raven shrugs.

“I might be able to shed light on that one.” Clarke clears her throat, before she proceeds, “She is with my mother… I-I walked in on them a few weeks ago.”

She feels very uncomfortable at the memory.

Everyone’s eyes are directed at her in disbelief and it’s dead silent for a moment, until suddenly Raven bursts into laughter.

“What? No way!” Echo shouts at the same time as Octavia pouts and accusingly inquires, “you knew for weeks and didn’t tell me?”

Raven just keeps laughing till she almost falls off the love seat.

“They are keeping it on the down low.” Clarke defends herself.

She waits till Raven seems to have calm down, and then asks the mechanic a little petulantly, “are you done now?”  

Catching her breath and wiping away the tears from laughing so hard, Raven wheezes, “Done? I’m just getting started!”

Clarke rolls her eyes.

“So first, yay Abby! I knew she was getting some lately, she had this glow about her. Second, you walked in on them? Oh my God! Tell me everything about it! I mean two hot female alphas, who was on top? I bet it was Abby, she just has the swagger…, and Kane was such a bottom. But Diyoza? Maybe a switch, but there’s no way Abby let’s her top often and…”

“Babe, breathe, you’re rambling. I don’t think Clarke wants to talk or even think about her mother’s love life so much.” Echo interrupts her wife.

“Thank you, Echo.” Clarke says, starting to feel sick as she fights back the images Raven’s remarks have evoked.

“And no, Raven, I won’t tell you anything. This conversation is over.” She states resolutely.

“But Clarke! Come on! I thought we were friends!”

“Ugh, why do you have to be like that? What is it with you and my mother anyway?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault your mother is seriously hot. Even Echo agrees, right, babe?” The beta winks at her wife.

“Please, leave me out of this.” Echo whines while turning pink.

“I can’t believe you two!” Clarke exclaims exasperatedly.

“Yeah, you should be ashamed of yourselves.” Octavia half-heartedly adds, and Clarke can’t help but notice the blush on her alpha’s face.

“You too?” She asks incredulously before standing up. Octavia even blushing deeper is answer enough.

“You all are the worst. I’m going to bed.” With a final huff she stomps off into their bedroom.

As soon as the door closes behind her, she hears Raven’s laughter echoing through the house once again.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

Thankfully Raven’s pregnancy goes well and she almost makes it to her calculated due date. When the time comes, she has to have a c-section, but there are no complications and in the end Raven and Echo welcome a healthy baby girl into the world.

Their daughter is a beautiful, tiny newborn with dark hair and brown eyes, just like her mother. They call her Ella.

Looking at her friend’s little family, Clarke can’t imagine someone being happier than Raven and Echo on that day.

 

Raven takes a maternity leave, but of course the restless mechanic is back to work after only three months. Echo and Raven’s apprentices make sure she doesn’t overdo it though.

 

 

~

 

 

 

Over the years Raven, Emori and Shaw have managed to get two more satellites into Earth’s orbit in addition to the satellite that Diyoza’s crew had used.

These satellites circle Earth high up in space and send pictures and other data to Raven’s mainframe. It takes time to analyze all the information, but every few years Raven gives Octavia, Clarke and the council an update about the state of their planet.

Every year the images show not only more areas where flora and fauna seem to have claimed back the toxic wastelands, they also show a significant growth of the few areas that survived Praimfaya without much damage in the first place. Wonkru’s valley is the only one of those areas on their continent, but there are two more - bigger ones - on the continents in the southern hemisphere.

 

Much to everyone’s astonishment the newest pictures show a new green area not far from their location. It looks like there’s a significant change in environment right at the other side of the northwestern mountains.

As it slowly settles what that could mean for Wonkru, everybody gets excited. Almost fourteen years after Praimfaya Earth seems to be on its way to recovery.

Raven points out that it’ll still take hundreds of years for the radiation to be gone completely, but what they are seeing is definitely a good sign.

“Life finds a way.” Raven announces solemnly to the council, but Clarke sees she’s barely holding back a grin.

While Raven basks in everyone’s attention and admiration, Clarke leans over and whispers into her friend’s ear, “You’re so full of shit. There’s no way you just came up with that. I’ve heard it before, I think it’s some quote from an old movie we used to watch on the Ark at movie night… Something about cloning… dinosaurs coming back to life? Dino World?”

“Shut up, Griffin!” Raven hisses, “doesn’t mean my use of that quote in this context isn’t brilliant, so shh!”

Of course Monty has caught up on it too, but doesn’t react to it, instead he says, “we are lucky that the planet recovers at all and that humanity is getting a chance to live on. I mean it’s not like if Earth had gotten destroyed completely, we could have just hopped off into our spaceship and found ourselves a new planet.”

Raven snorts and shakes her head. “Yeah, that would be ridiculous. You’d have to be delusional to even consider that as a valuable option.”

Her tone more serious again, the engineer addresses the council members, “I told you all before and I’ll tell you again. We have this one planet, this one chance. We almost fucked it up before, so let’s learn from our mistakes and do better.”

Nodding in unison, everyone agrees.

 

 

 

Clarke and Octavia decide to make the journey up the northwestern mountain. They want to see the new green valley with their own eyes. They also decide to go alone, just the two of them.

They haven’t had much alone time since the twins were born and they never ever went on a vacation. So, Clarke thinks this is the perfect opportunity to get some time off and spend some quality time with her wife. Octavia is convinced pretty quickly with that last argument.

They leave Echo in charge. As the General of the peacekeepers she is the third in the command chain of Wonkru - after Blodreina and Reinatu. Of course she doesn’t have quite the same powers than Octavia or Clarke. For any major decisions she’ll have to get the council’s approval, and she’s only in charge for the time of their absence.

They trust Echo though and are not worried. Wonkru is in good hands.

It’s a two days trip to the mountain pass. They don’t plan to actually go down the other side, so they should be back home in four days, five at the most.

They leave their kids with Abby who takes a few days off from work. Apollo is almost a year old and not getting breastfed anymore, so he’ll be fine without his moms for a few days.

 

 

The journey up the mountain is strenuous, but Clarke enjoys it nevertheless. Along the way she gets to talk with her wife about anything and everything, and often nature surprises them with some breathtaking views.

On the second day of their journey a storm comes up and they seek shelter in cave that’s luckily big enough to accommodate them both and leave room for a small fireplace.

While outside the wind is howling and the rain is coming down hard, they sit around the camp fire, huddled together closely to share their heat.

Adjusting the blanket around their shoulders, Clarke looks at Octavia who seems to be deep in thought as she stares into the fire.

She studies her mate’s face. Over the years it has gathered more and more wrinkles, a few scars but also many laughter lines. Clarke thinks it makes her only more beautiful.

As if sensing her gaze, Octavia turns her head and looks at her. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Clarke smiles gently. “I love you.”

Reciprocating her smile, Octavia leans in and brushes her lips against Clarke’s, kissing her gently.

“So, you are not fed up with me yet?” The alpha asks playfully.

“Never.” Clarke answers in earnest before closing the distance once again and capturing her alpha’s lips in a passionate kiss.

 

Soon Clarke lies sprawled out naked on the blanket, Octavia above her. The alpha pauses and leans back, letting her eyes roam over Clarke’s body. The deep desire in her mate’s eyes make her shiver in anticipation.

Clarke knows her body has changed. After having given birth to four children that’s inevitable. Most of the time she isn’t self-conscious about her stretch marks and blemishes, especially not in this moment when - even after seven years of marriage - Octavia looks at her with so much love and devotion, like she hung the moon and the stars in the sky. She’ll never get tired of that look.

“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” Octavia whispers in awe.

“Come here.” Clarke lifts her hand to her mate’s neck and pulls her down to bring their lips together again.

Octavia’s bare skin on hers feels electrifying, and the pulses of pleasure only intensify when the alpha’s hands and mouth thoroughly worship every part of her body.

It always amazes Clarke how connected she feels to Octavia when they are making love. Even outside of her heat her alpha’s touch reaches something deep inside of her and makes her whole body sing in the same rhythm as her mate’s.

 

 

Later they lie in each other’s arms, utterly spent. Octavia’s head rests on Clarke’s chest, and she feels her mate’s soft breaths against her skin. Swirling a strand of brunette hair between her fingers, there’s suddenly a thought coming up in her otherwise blissfully quiet mind.

“You never told me what you said to Lexa the day we went to her memorial together for the first time.”

Lifting her head, Octavia rests her chin on Clarke’s sternum, and looks at her.

“Do you want to know?”

“I… Yes, but only if you want to tell me.”

Octavia only nods before she rolls to the side and braces herself up on her elbow. With her other hand she takes Clarke’s hand and starts playing with her fingers, before she softly recounts her words from all these years ago.

“I told her that I was sorry that she died, that she didn’t get the chance to grow old with you, that she didn’t get to see her daughter grow up into the amazing woman I knew she was going to be. I told her how grateful I was that through a twist of fate her family became mine. I told her that having you and Madi in my life was the best thing that ever happened to me. I promised her that I would protect her mate and her daughter with my life, and that I would love you and Madi forever and with all my heart, just like she did.”

Clarke hasn’t even noticed that she started crying. Through the haze of tears however she searches for her wife’s gaze. There are so many things she wants to say, but words elude her. When finally Octavia looks up and blue meets green, everything clears and she knows Octavia understands.

Clarke has never been more grateful for this wonderful woman who she gets to call her mate.

 

 

 

They leave the cave the next morning, and with the first rays of sunlight they reach the mountain top.

Standing at the edge of a large cliff, they look down, the world outside of their valley that has been their sanctuary for so many years below their feet.

It’s a magnificent sight. The new land stretches out to the horizon, lush shades of green mixed with small spots of vibrant colors of red, yellow, blue and so many more.

They stand too high above to see any signs of wildlife on the ground, but there are birds in the sky, some swirling around lively, some majestically gliding in the wind.

 

Clarke is in absolute awe at the beautiful view.

Earth is recovering and somehow - through all the hardships and pain and losses - they have managed to keep the human kind alive to see the dawn of a new era.

She looks at her mate who is standing next to her, and takes Octavia’s hand in hers.

When their eyes meet, Clarke sees the same relief and hope that she feels on Octavia’s face.

They smile at each other, knowing their thoughts are the same.

They made it. Not only did they survive but they build a life for themselves and their people.

Earth is healing itself and so is humanity.

There is a bright future ahead of them. Together they are ready to face it.

 

 

 

~

_The end._

 


End file.
